Recently, the development of functional materials was caused by the increasing interest in the leisure time due to change of people''s perceptions for health. Characteristics of functional materials for apparel are water-proof breathable, quick dry, anti-bacterial, deodorizing and so forth, and functional materials are marketed to all ages using the design. Among the functional materials, breathable water-proof material has the characteristics to exports the internal moisture to the outside and prevents water permeation from the outside.
Electrospinning has been studied to overcome the disadvantages of conventional breathable water-proof materials because previous fabrications have shown requiring performance of water pressure, water vapor permeability and air permeability.
Meta-aramid polymer is much better price/performance ratio than other polymers in the high thermal resistance polymers, and has used for the fire resistant clothing, protective clothing, high temperature fiber filter and insulating paper.
In this study, the meta-aramid polymer and the electrospinning method was applied to design the breathable water-proof material with high thermal resistance. Electrospun meta-aramid nanofiber webs were prepared with various velocity ratios of a collector drum, the fiber diameter and thickness of electrospun nanofiber webs, and then compared in terms of tensile properties, water vapor permeability and pore parameters. In tensile properties, tenacity and young''s modulus were increased with increasing the velocity ratio of collector drum in the machine direction and decreasing fibers diameters. And water vapor permeability was increased with increasing fibers diameters and decreasing thickness of nanofiber webs. Pore parameters showed a similar tendency to the water vapor permeability analysis.
Meta-aramid nanofiber webs similar to the GSM and thickness of ePTFE films were fabricated by the electrospinning in order to compare water vapor permeability, pore parameters and thermal properties for the outdoor wear. The meta-aramid nanofiber webs were similar to the water permeability of a chemically treated ePTFE film, and higher than the pore size of ePTFE films. As a conclusion, meta-aramid nanofiber webs have a great potential for the permeable water-proof material and filters of high thermal resistance.