Chemical characterization and thermal comfort properties of cotton finished with phase change materials and antimicrobial agents

Abstract

The expectations regarding the functional characteristics and performance of textile products have been steadily increasing. In this sense, multifunctional materials with thermoregulatory and antimicrobial properties were developed using different finishing strategies. For this purpose, through finishing processes, the application of microcapsules of phase change materials, mPCM, combined with different antimicrobial agents of natural origin, was carried out. Specifically, zeolites doped with silver, composites of chitosan with zeolites doped with silver, and TiO2, in different application combinations, were used. The resulting multifunctional cotton materials were characterized and their performance was evaluated in terms of thermal comfort, stationary properties and moisture management. The statistical analysis of the results has indicated that the thermal properties underwent changes related to the introduction of mPCM in the treated samples, but the antimicrobial finishing also had an effect on the results obtained. As expected, the finishes contributed to a decrease in the permeability of the samples studied, however, without compromising the breathability of the materials. It was concluded that the best combination of finishes was achieved with the application of mPCM combined with the chitosan film with silver doped zeolites.