A Gorgeous Pformation Of A Wool

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the research team led by Tang Fangqiong, the research and Development Institute of nanomaterials and the Department of textile and clothing science department of Hong Kong Polytech University, has found a unique nano finishing technology and successfully developed the washable "moisture absorption and quick drying" woollen fabric, which is led by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The research team of the Institute of physical and chemical technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Research Institute of control and preparation of nanomaterials, led by Professor Tang Fangqiong.

The research results have been published in the Journal of chemistry and sustainability, energy and materials (Chemistry & Sustainability, Energy & Materials, referred to as ChemSusChem).

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The iron egg went back to the village from the town, saying that there was a machine in the city, from which the pig turned into a ham sausage, and from there went the ham sausage into a pig.

This is a bridge in the comic drama "elevator door".

It also sounds like an incredible machine: the whole piece of wool goes through the machine, and the wool will be "nano modified" in the machine, thus having many excellent performances such as moisture absorption, quick drying and easy sweating.

The former is just a burden of crosstalk, while the latter is approaching the reality step by step under the efforts of scientists.

Technical challenges of textile giants

Although China is a large textile country, the domestic textile industry still needs to make continuous efforts in the new fabric design and processing technology.

Taking sportswear as an example, the data of China apparel net show that the Chinese sportswear market has the fastest growth. In recent years, the sales of sports brand in shopping malls is the best.

On the market, ordinary sports brands can easily get tens of millions of sales every year.

But our familiar brands still rely on imported fabrics to attract customers.

There is a microclimate between human skin and clothing. For sportswear, how to minimize the water vapor content of this microclimate and make the sweat on the surface of the human body spread quickly through clothing, evaporate into the air instead of continuing to stay on the skin, and keep clothes dry and comfortable, has always been the goal of people's efforts.

At present, most of the sports brands in the market adopt water repellent chemical fibers, especially polyester, polypropylene and so on. This kind of chemical fiber fabrics can absorb moisture and sweat, mainly after absorbing sweat, the sweat diffusion speed is fast, and it can evaporate quickly on the other side of the fabric.

In natural fiber, cotton and wool skin feel comfortable, green health.

In particular, wool fiber has become an ideal clothing material because of its light, soft and warm quality.

Although the moisture absorption property of cotton fiber is very good, its moisture release rate is very slow, and the diffusion rate of sweat is slow, which makes sweat easy to concentrate.

Once a person sweats a lot, cotton fibers sweat heavily and feel wet.

The scale structure on the surface of wool fibers makes natural woollen fabrics hydrophobic, impeding the water absorption ability of wool fabrics, resulting in low moisture absorption and sweat perspiration. It is very easy for people to feel hot and uncomfortable after a lot of sports.

Therefore, the development of "moisture absorption and quick drying" wool fabrics has always been a hot research topic in this field.

Tang Fangqiong, a researcher in the field of control and preparation of nanomaterials, the Institute of physical and chemical technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Functional and comfortable proposition

"People will be more and more demanding on clothing's functionality and comfort.

Moreover, comfort will gradually become the first factor to consider when people buy clothes.

Tang Fangqiong said.

With the improvement of living standards, a series of new fabrics emerge as the times require.

The success of DuPont Co's high resilient Lycra fiber, waterproof and breathable fabric EXOTHERM functional fabrics shows the tremendous strength of functional fabrics in increasing product value and meeting consumer demand.

The rise of nanotechnology has also had a profound impact on the pformation of the textile industry.

In recent years, functional nanomaterials such as antibacterial, deodorant, UV and self cleaning have attracted wide attention.

In addition to the novelty of functionality, it is also of great significance to develop "hygroscopic and quick drying" fabrics using nanotechnology to improve the wearing comfort of fabrics.

Last year, the team of Tang Fangqiong and the team led by Professor Li Yi of textile and clothing science department of Hong Kong Polytech University developed a unique nano finishing technology, and successfully developed the washable "moisture absorption and quick drying" wool fabric.

The team built a nano thin layer made of spherical silica on the surface of wool fibers, and constructed super hydrophilic wool fabrics. The mechanism of hydrophobicity of wool fibers modified by nano technology was also discussed.

However, nano functional fabrics are also faced with a big problem in practical application, that is, the new functions that nanotechnology gives to fabrics can not be maintained for a long time. For example, washing resistance is not enough. After washing, the special functions of washing machines commonly used in people's daily life will disappear in part or all.

New characteristics of "long" on wool

"Before

On the basis of previous studies, the joint team, guided by practical applications, used surface grafting and in situ growth strategies to modify single molecule layers of amino groups and carboxyl groups on the surface of wool fibers. These chemically modified groups can be firmly bonded to nano silica particles and grow in situ on the surface of wool fibers with a diameter of 20 nm.

Members of this research group went to the China Textile Academy of Sciences to produce silica nano thin layers in situ.

After the washing machine was washed 20 times, the characteristics of "moisture absorption and quick drying" can be maintained well, and the problem of washability of nano functional fabrics is solved.

Because the "growth" layer is very thin, and the weight of the treated fabric is less than 1/1000 of the original weight.

"Therefore, the additional cost is small.

Moreover, in situ growth strategy greatly simplifies the preparation steps and provides a new idea for large-scale construction of nano functional fabrics.

Tang Fangqiong said.

"We have mainly studied nanomaterials, and have always wanted to get out of the lab and apply nanotechnology.

In our collaboration with Hong Kong Polytech University, our initial idea was to invent a machine for preparing nanomaterials to let cloth go inside, and nanomaterials can grow directly on cloth.

Tang Fangqiong said, "at present, it is working with a textile enterprise in Jiangsu to prepare wool before processing it, so as to improve the quality of wool fiber."

According to the introduction, wet dyeing methods commonly used for dyeing fabrics should be soaked in paints, then heated to above 90 degrees Celsius. After 30 minutes, they will be dried, washed and dried, and the whole process will take more than 1 hours.

The process of surface grafting and in-situ growth of nanocrystalline layer is also a process. It also needs to be soaked and dried, then placed in nano solution to grow particles and then dried.

From the beginning to the "long" cashier, it takes about two or three hours.

This process can be combined with the dyeing and finishing process of textiles at the same time.

The "long" nano layer on the cloth has the function of "hygroscopic and quick drying", and the cloth is easy to sweat.

We have combined titanium dioxide and silicon dioxide to produce functional fabrics with self-cleaning and antibacterial function.

Theoretically, if the "long" flame retardant, waterproof, cold resistant, anti ultraviolet and other functions of the nano layer, cloth will have corresponding functions.

Tang Fangqiong said.