Effects of siloxane plasma coating on the frictional properties of polyester and polyamide fabrics

Hydrophobic siloxane plasma coatings (pp-HMDSO) were deposited on flexible polymeric substrates in order to investigate their performance within different tribo systems. The frictional properties of plasma-coated foils and fabrics were thus examined using the Textile Friction Analyzer. The friction measurements were realized under dry, wet and saturated conditions to simulate sweating during running and using two different tribo-partners (i.e. steel and mechanical skin model). Steel is a common counterpart to measure the frictional properties of fabrics. But it does not reproduce the real skin-to-textile friction like using a mechanical skin model as counterpart. Scanning electron micrographs were taken to visualize the fibers at different stages to check adhesion and wear of the coating. Results showed that the hardness of the coating and the nature of the counterpart strongly influence the coating delamination and the friction properties of the textiles. The water repellence of the siloxane-coated fabrics had a positive effect on reducing friction coefficient under wet conditions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.