Performance of recycled PET and conventional PES fibers in case of water transport properties

In recent years the researches on liquid moisture transport properties of fabrics have great importance. Especially for the sport garments, fabric structure should led liquid moisture to transfer from skin surface to the outer layers. Special fibers and fabric structures were designed including channelled fibers and micro fiber productions to contribute higher capillary transport capability to the textile surface. Polyester fibers are used for this purpose frequently. Due to the increase in the demand of sustainable textiles, production and consumption of recycled polyester fibers are increasing recently. They are expected to have adequate mechanical properties to fulfil requirements. in this study, liquid moisture transfer properties of the polyester and r-PET fabrics were investigated. For this purpose, knitted fabrics produced from 100% polyester and 100% r-PET yams were used. Dynamic liquid transport properties, capillary transfer property, drying rate and water absorption capacity of these surfaces were measured. According to the results, it was concluded that both fabrics were identified as "good" by using "Moisture Management Tester" in case of liquid moisture transfer properties. No significant difference was determined between water vapour permeability values. Static immersion test is helpful in order to determine wettability for the identification of sensitive differences and as a conventional method, vertical wicking test is a good indicator while distinguishing capillarity differences. It was found that r-PET fabric has better results than PES fabric, in case of absorption rate, wettability, drying rate and ovine.Ege UniversityEge University [2015/MOH/016]This research was supported by Ege University as 2015/MOH/016 coded BAP Project