Plant Structured Textile Materials.

摘要

The present research comprises of two closely related parts: the development of a new absorption tester namely Transplanar Water Transport Tester (TWTT) and development of a plant-structured fabric for liquid water transport properties.;The TWTT is unique in that it can not only measure the initial water absorption of the fabric in transplanar direction, but also the rate of evaporation from the fabric surface after fully saturated with water, with the temperature of water controlled at different levels simulating the end use conditions of the fabric. Compared with existing instruments for water transport behavior of fabrics or papers, the new instrument has a unique mechanism to control the water level underneath the fabric sample at a constant level (i.e. the water level is not reduced with the water transport into or through the fabric sample), as a result the measurements are not affected by the changes in hydrostatic water pressure during testing. Repeated tests on various fabric samples showed that the measurements from the instrument are accurate, sensitive and reproducible. Using this instrument it is possible to measure precisely the absorption behavior of the various textile fabrics with realistic simulation of profuse sweating condition.;Plants not only possess the most important process for sustaining life (i.e. photosynthesis), but also have exceptional water transport properties. The excellent water transport behavior of plants is a result of the branching network, which results in a minimum flow resistance between the root and the leaves and creates a so called cohesion-tension mechanism , viz. negative water pressure in the leaves to suck the water from below.;In this research plant structured fabrics were developed mimicking the branching network to achieve excellent liquid water transport properties. A range of plant structured fabrics were developed using different structures, yarns and densities to meet the requirement of the various end use.;Results reflected that the plant structure fabrics have faster initial absorption property and have significant advantages in moisture management. Such fabrics can wick water faster from inner layer (touching the human body) to the outer layer, where it spreads faster and dries-up quickly.