Hydrophilic cloth by surface modification of polypropylene fabrics with mineral particles

Abstract

Different surface modifications of polypropylene non-woven fabric (NWF) by using mineral particles are proposed to increase fabric hydrophilicity. Particles from a zeolitized vitreous breccia are selected as an economic mineral having high water absorption capacity. The efficacy of each methodology concerning particle inclusion on and within NWF is studied with different techniques. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction are used to analyze particle presence and coverage. Particle concentration on modified-NWF is determined by using thermogravimetric analysis. The selection of the surface modification methodology is done considering the particle inclusion efficacy and its scalability to be directly used during NWF fabrication. Particle inclusion on the heat softened NWF followed by the removal of non-adhered particles is chosen as the selected surface modification methodology to increase NWF hydrophilicity. To guarantee the no-particle detachment during the use of modified-NMF, specific assays are performed simulating extreme conditions such handling under water. After these assays, modified-NWFs have a minimum water absorption capacity of 5.8 g/cm2. It means that 0.25 m2 of modified-NWF has at least similar absorption capacity than 5 g of silica gel. These modified-NWFs, obtained from an easy process during NWF fabrication, favor the beneficiation of the raw zeolitized vitreous breccia, leading to a new hydrophilic cloth.