Liquid repellency is sought for military fabrics in order to keep the Warfighter dry and prevent chemical threats from penetrating. This repellency needs to be achieved for garments without significant interference to the evaporative process that keeps the Warfighter cool. Liquid repellency is currently achieved through the use of perfluorinated-based fabric treatments which provide a conformal coating on the fibers. However, many perfluorinated compounds are under regulatory scrutiny for their persistence in the environment and the health concerns they present. This presentation will address the development efforts, led by the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC), to produce inherently omniphobic surfaces on fibers and fabrics through a reentrant fiber geometry. The desired geometries are achieved through bicomponent fiber spinning with a water soluble polymer component and subsequent removal of this component. The figure below first illustrates a schematic of the reentrant concept then a micrograph of bicomponent fibers prior to the extraction of the outer soluble component. Material selection, bicomponent fiber processing conditions, fiber designs, fabric production, and test methods will be discussed. Results will be compared to conventional fabrics that were treated with the perfluorinated chemistries.

Development of inherently omniphobic fibers and fabrics

256th National Meeting (2018)

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