Effects of weave structure and water-repellent compositions’ formulation on the hydrophobicity property of cotton fabric

Abstract

Hydrophobization is one of the most common types of final finishing of textile materials for special purposes. In recent years, in this connection, the attention of researchers has been focused on the development and production of hydrophobic materials of a new generation. Obtaining hydrophobic materials necessitates the creation of new highly effective chemical preparations, increasing the heterogeneity of the material surface. To solve this problem, in this paper, we studied the dependence of the hydrophobicity of a textile material on the surface structure of the fabric and the type of water-repellent composition based on polymers. The processing of various relief structure fabrics with water-repellent compositions was carried out using the padding method. The combined action of the relief structure of the fabric surface obtained by weaving and low surface energy imparted by water-repellent compositions ensures the hydrophobicity of the textile material. The water-repellent property stability is achieved by heat treatment of padded samples at a temperature of 150–160°C for 6–7 minutes. Studies of the processing stability showed the preservation of a sufficiently high hydrophobicity after five washes.