The untreated surfaces of synthetic fibers, unlike natural ones, do not have the desired comfort and application properties. Polyester (Poly(ethylene terephthalate) or PET), one of the most common synthetic fibers used in the textile and apparels  has limiting properties such as hydrophobic behavior, low surface energy, and poor wettability due to a lack of polar groups in its molecular structure. Therefore, surface modification of polyester fibers has been of growing importance. Surface radical graft polymerization has shown to be powerful and efficient for surface modifications of polymers where various functional groups can be immobilized to improve surface properties or introduce new functionalities such as hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity, conductivity, dyeability, anti-fouling and antibacterial properties to a fiber's surface. In this research, surface of the PET fibers is modified and grafted by using N-halamine precursor monomers to produce durable and rechargeable antibacterial polyester fabrics. In order to optimize the radical graft polymerization the effect of different structures and concentrations of initiators and halamine precursor monomers, effect of time and temperature is studied. The results show successful surface graft radical polymerization of the monomer onto polyester fibers. The grafting yield is quantified using FTIR and determining the active chlorine content of the bleached grafted samples.

Surface modification of Polyester fibers by radical graft polymerization using N-halamine monomers

248th National Meeting (2014)

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