Production and characterization of magnetic textiles

In this study, 100% cotton fabrics were imparted with magnetic field properties using a conventional screen printing method to obtain magnetic fabrics in the context of smart textiles. The magnetism in the fabrics was generated by using a Fe3O4 compound. In order to make this compound adhere more strongly to the fabric sample, printing method was used as a finishing application. The Fe3O4 compound was added to the printing paste without using any dyestuff since the Fe3O4 compound had a unique color itself. The washing durability of the printed functional textiles were investigated. The washing fastness, acidic sweat fastness, alkaline sweat fastness, water fastness, dry rubbing fastness, wet rubbing fastness, tear strength, pilling and degree of external magnetic induction of the fabrics were analyzed. In addition, the morphological analyzes of the fabrics were performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX) and X-ray crystallography (XRD) to determine the crystallographic properties of the materials and the phases they contained. According to the result of quantitative evaluation of magnetic fields on textile surfaces, Fe3O4 microparticles were in the range of 25 mT when they constituted 50% of the weight.Thus, it was found that a magnetic field was successfully generated in the textiles. Moreover, the magnetic property of the fabric was durable after the washing process as the mT values were maintained even after 20 washing cycles, and the fastness and performance tests were also at the highest level. Increasing the Fe3O4 content in the formulations used in the study improved the tensile strength by 2-7%. Comparing the test results of the fabric sample with the optimum formulation with the untreated fabric sample, it was also determined that the tensile strength increased by 8-10% on average after 20 washes.