Investigation of water permeability of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) electrospun porous mat

Abstract

The aim of this study is to form thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) mats by electrospinning process on knitted and woven materials, and to determine the water permeability of textile materials before and after mat has been formed on them. TPU granules were dissolved in a mixture of dimethylformamide (DMF) and tetrahydrofuran (THF) (1:1, w/w) solvents. TPU solution of 3 wt.% concentration was prepared. TPU mats were electrospun by "NanospiderTM", the applied voltage was 65 kV. Selected textile materials were knitted and woven cotton fabrics. Textile materials were covered by 1, 2, 3 and 4 layers of TPU mats. For the experiment four textile support materials such as fleece knitted fabric and three twill weave cotton fabrics were chosen. The water permeability was determined by a water drop method measuring the area of water drop. It was determined that the greater the number of layers on the textile materials with TPU electrospun fiber the thicker will be the mat. The greater number of layers decreases the expansion of water drop area on the textile material.