Effect of Tetraethoxysilane (hybrid sol) on chemical and abrasion resistance, and dyeability of nano polyamide mat

This work deals with the application of inorganic–organic sol–gel layer on polyamide nanofabrics to protect nanofibres against chemical and mechanical damages. To this aim, fabric specimens with different silica concentration (1, 5, 10, 20 and 40 %) have been prepared. Layers were deposited on polyamide nanofabrics by pad-dry-cure technique. Permeability was defined as the rate of airflow perpendicular to a test sample under specified conditions for the test area, pressure gradient, and time according to DIN EN ISO 9237. Abrasion resistance testing was performed for determining the weight loss of samples before and after sol–gel treatment. For chemical resistant measurement, Formic Acid was used. Infrared spectroscopy was also used for investigation of the chemical structure of the treated polyamide nano mats. The morphology of the fabrics was observed using a Scanning Electron Microscope. Also both untreated and sol–gel treated samples were dyed using cationic dyestuff and dyeability of polyamide nanomats after treating by hybrid sol were compared with untreated one. The results indicate that the K/S value of CI. Basic Red 46 are enhanced by increasing the concentration of Tetraethoxysilane based sol, respectively. Also by increasing the concentration of sol–gel to 50 %, the greatest resistance to formic acid was achieved.