Thermal comfort properties of plasma-treated warp-knitted spacer fabric for the shoe insole

Abstract

Thermo-physiological comfort properties are crucial aspects of interlining material comfort for shoe insole which can be examined for permeability and conductivity. Air and water vapour permeability, conductivity and resistance of thermal are the main criteria for thermo-physiological comfort properties. Clothing comfort can be enhanced through special finishes including plasma which is one among the well known for surface modification. Oxygen and argon atmospheric plasma were used to analyse the comfort properties of polyester warp-knitted spacer fabric based on the fabric thickness and gas processing time. The outcomes exposed a notable influence in the comfort properties of polyester spacer fabrics after the atmospheric plasma processing time. The results too pointed out that the water vapour permeability and thermal resistance increased, although the air permeability and thermal conductivity decreased with the atmospheric plasma processing. When considering all the values of plasma-treated spacer fabrics, the 3 mm thickness of polyester spacer fabric proved to have better response and comfort properties than the 2 and 4 mm spacer fabrics. The findings show that final comfort properties of polyester warp-knitted spacer fabrics can be improved by using plasma treatments, and argon plasma treatment is the best method when compared to the oxygen plasma treatment.