Crease recovery, mechanical and thermal properties of synthetic fabrics treated with electron beam irradiation

The effect of surface treatment of polyester, nylon-6 and cotton/polyester fabrics, with formulations based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) followed by electron beam irradiation, on the crease recovery, mechanical and thermal properties was investigated. The non-reactive siloxane was activated with styrene (S) or methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomers and their corresponding oligomers. The crease recovery properties were determined in terms of the recovery angles in the dry and wet states, while the thermal stability was evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) technique. The results showed that the application of MMA/PDMS formulation to the different fabrics improved the crease recovery properties to levels higher than in the case of S/PDMS one. Electron beam surface treatment with S/PDME formulation causes an improvement in tensile mechanical properties, while when MMA/PDMS formulation was applied under the same condition, an opposite trends were observed. The TGA thermograms indicated that electron surface treatment with styrene or MMA formulation has no effect on the thermal stability of polyester, while the treatment with styrene and MMA formulation causes a decrease in the thermal stability of nylon-6 and cotton fabrics within the range 300-450 degreesC. According to the T-max of the rate of reaction gives further supports to this finding. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.