High efficiency fog collection using metalized polyester fabrics considering the texture types

Abstract

Polyester fabrics with three different textures, including tufted, knitted, and spacer were nickel phosphorus electroless plated, and the fog collecting efficiency of them was investigated using simulated foggy air. The obtained results indicated a 290%, 276% and 13% increase in the amount of the collected water for the knitted fabric, the tufted fabric and the spacer fabric respectively. SEM images showed the formation of a cauliflower-like nodule metal layer on the longitudinal surface of the fibers. The results of AFM analysis indicated a 227%, 94% and 42% increase in surface roughness for the tufted fabric, knitted fabric and spacer fabric, respectively. The results showed satisfactory light fastness of these fabrics against the ultraviolet irradiation, which is important for the employment of these fabrics for the fog collection systems. The decrease in the angle of crease recovery was indicative of the improvement of the fabric’s drape, which is a necessary factor for exposing the fabric to the wind. Finally, it can be inferred that the metal coating application of nickel-phosphorus through the electroless method to the polyester fabric results in a noticeable increase in the efficiency of collecting water from the fog.

Keywords:

• Fabric texture
• polyester fabric
• eletroless plating
• fog collection

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our greatest thanks to Mrs. Mitra Asadi, Mr. Sina Farajzadeh and Mr. Morteza Alehosseini for their vigorous cooperation in this research. We would also like to thank Ms Mahdieh Fasahat who greatly helped us with the production of AFM images.