Moisture Characteristics of Glycerol Treated Bacterial Cellulose Nonwoven

ABSTRACT

Bacterial cellulose is one of the high potential sustainable materials with numerous applications. This research work analyses the moisture handling ability of the alkali-treated (purified), bleached and dyed bacterial cellulose after glycerol treatment focusing on fashion application. The developed samples are dried at room temperature and evaluated for water absorbency, wicking, water vapor transmission properties, and moisture management indices. Glycerol treated bacterial cellulose nonwovens showed a better absorbency than the dried non-woven. A faster absorbency of 1.48 minutes was noted for the glycerol treated bleached sample. In the case of wicking, bleached and dyed dry samples showed minimum wicking of 5 and 8 mm. No other samples showed wicking ability including the glycerol treated samples. The water vapor permeability results also increased notably after glycerol treatment. An increment of 55% water vapor permeability was noted with purified sample and a 36.9% increment with bleached sample after glycerol treatment. Though the glycerol treated dyed sample showed a similar vapor transmission to the glycerol treated bleached sample, the untreated dyed sample had a maximum vapor permeability of 621.10 g/m²/day. The moisture management analysis results indicated that the glycerol treatment improved the waterproof nature of bacterial cellulose nonwoven to fast-absorbing slow drying fabric. The subjective analysis on the nonwoven fabric handle showed that the glycerol treatment statistically increased the smoothness, softness, flexibility, and draping nature of the sample than the dried sample. However, the subjective analysis also reported that the glycerol treatment significantly increased the stickiness of the nonwoven.

摘要

细菌纤维素是一种具有广泛应用前景的高潜力可持续材料. 本研究分析了经碱处理(纯化)、漂白和染色的细菌纤维素经甘油处理后的吸湿能力, 重点研究了其在服装上的应用. 开发的样品在室温下干燥, 并评估吸水性、芯吸、水蒸气传输性能和水分管理指数. 甘油处理的细菌纤维素非织造布比干燥的非织造布表现出更好的吸收性. 甘油处理过的漂白样品的吸光度更快, 为1.48分钟. 在芯吸的情况下, 漂白和染色的干燥样品显示最小芯吸为5mm和8mm. 没有其他样品显示出芯吸能力, 包括甘油处理的样品. 甘油处理后, 水蒸气渗透性结果也显著增加. 甘油处理后, 纯化样品的水蒸气渗透性增加了55%, 漂白样品的水蒸气渗透性增加了36.9%. 尽管经甘油处理的染色样品显示出与经甘油处理的漂白样品类似的蒸汽透射率, 但未经处理的染色样品的最大蒸汽渗透性为621.10 g/m2/天. 水分管理分析结果表明, 甘油处理改善了细菌纤维素非织造布的防水性能, 使其成为快吸慢干织物. 对非织造布手柄的主观分析表明, 甘油处理在统计学上提高了样品的平滑度、柔软度、柔韧性和悬垂性, 而干燥后的样品则没有. 然而, 主观分析也表明甘油处理显著增加了非织造布的粘性.

KEYWORDS:

• Bacterial cellulose
• glycerol
• water absorbency
• water vapor permeability
• wicking
• moisture management indices
• handle properties

关键词:

• 细菌纤维素
• 甘油
• 吸水性、
• 水蒸气渗透性、
• 芯吸
• 水分管理指数
• 处理性能