ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to investigate the thermoregulatory properties of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) 3D knitted materials with bioceramic additives which are highly absorbing far-infrared (FIR) radiation. Ceramic materials are well-known and useful for thermal insulation applications. In order to compare different types of ceramic additives and coating methods for their incorporation into textile, several types of ceramic compounds with heat-retaining function were selected: germanium (Ge), aluminum (Al) and silicon (Si) additives were applied by impregnation in squeezing padder and titanium (Ti) by the screen printing method. The thermoregulatory properties (thermal resistance, heat-retaining effectiveness and air permeability) of 3D PET knits with bioceramic additives were estimated. In this study scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were used to analyze the morphology of coated fabrics, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) analysis was applied to evaluate the number of minerals with high heat capacity in each formulation used for treatment. The knits coated with a formulation containing Ti ceramic additives demonstrated the most effective thermal behavior. Furthermore, better heat accumulation effectiveness of Ti ceramics containing knits was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. It was also determined that 3D knitted fabric with Ti ceramic additives showed the highest emissivity among tested samples and the implication is that this sample radiates its energy more efficiently than others.