Improvement of Moisture Transmission Properties of Acrylic–Cotton Blended Fabric Using Calcium Chloride-Based Desiccants: A Novel Approach

Abstract

This research reports the results of a work intended to increase the attributes regarding moisture management of acrylic–cotton-blended single jersey fabrics. In a single-step exhaust method, the blended fabric is treated with 60% calcium chloride-based desiccant at 60 °C for 1 h. The multidirectional liquid transport behavior of treated fabric through properties such as time for wetting, rate of absorbing moisture, maximum radius of wetted area, speed of spreading the test liquid, moisture transport index, and total moisture management capacity is analyzed. The experimental results exhibit improvement in the moisture management property of the treated fabrics from 0 to 0.75. The wettability of the fabric is also enhanced as the water contact angle has reduced from 108.37° to 66.45° after the treatment. Treated samples transport the test liquid across the fabric much more quickly than untreated samples due to fabric–desiccant interaction through a strong hydrogen bond. This is characterized by an FTIR peak at 2341 cm⁻¹ which gets reduced after treatment. The impact of desiccant treatment on physical properties such as color strength, fabric thickness and weight was also analyzed. The desiccant treatment shows durability up to five wash cycles equivalent to 25 home laundering cycles, dictating a great prospect of applying this method in the moisture management of cotton–acrylic-blended textiles. Moreover, the presence of randomly deposited desiccant particles on the blended fabric surface confirmed by SEM is achieved in a single step, emphasizing the versatility of this method.

Graphical Abstract