Moisture management finish on cotton fabric by electrospraying

In this work, a moisture management cotton fabric developed by electrospraying a hydrophobic polymer on the inner surface (close to the skin) of the fabric was investigated. The Janus sheet architecture, that is, one surface ultra-hydrophobic and the other hydrophilic, was obtained in a 100% cotton fabric that is otherwise hydrophilic on both surfaces. The generation of nano-scale surface roughness by electrospraying fluorocarbon resulted in ultra-hydrophobicity (contact angle more than 140 degrees) on the inner surface of the cotton fabric while retaining hydrophilicity (contact angle less than 90 degrees) on the outer surface, thereby imparting the moisture management feature due to one directional water/sweat transport. The overall (liquid) moisture management capability of the cotton fabric could be significantly improved from 2.5 to 4.0, on the scale of 5. The fairly uniform distribution of fluorocarbon as electrosprayed particles on the inner surface of the cotton fabric was revealed by scanning electron microscopy and confirmed by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. The developed protocol is eco-friendly and commercially scalable owing to its minimum chemical usage and zero effluent discharge.