Simple post-treatment of cotton fabric for efficient personal moisture management

Abstract

Wet comfort is an important indicator for evaluating human wearing comfort, and personal moisture management fabrics can quickly transfer sweat from the skin surface to meet the human body's requirements for wet comfort. Although cotton fabrics have an excellent water absorption capacity, the inability of moisture to transfer quickly causes the fabrics to cling to the skin and causes discomfort. Here we demonstrate personal moisture management cotton fabric by two-step grafting treatments, which are relatively simple and usually do not fall off as easily as a simple coating process. Moreover, unlike traditional double-layer or sandwich structures that absorb water and grow heavy, the fabric's quick-drying qualities are accomplished by expanding the area of water evaporation. According to the results of liquid moisture management and water evaporation rate tests, this fabric's moisture diffusion radius is 5 mm larger than that of pure cotton fabrics, and its evaporation rate can reach 0.2082 g/(m2 · d). In addition, it is also suitable for high-volume apparel fabrics. This work paves the way for personal moisture management cotton fabric.