Application of Super-Hydrophobic Coating for Enhanced Water Repellency of Ballistic Fabric

Smith, Barton¹  Rajic, Slobodan¹  Hunter, Scott Robert¹ 

[1] ORNL

关键词: superhydrophobic water repellent coating treatment para-aramid ballistic fabric;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1160001
RP-ID  :  ORNL/TM-2014/561
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1160001
Others  :  Other: 400403209

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

The objective of this work was to demonstrate that a superhydrophobic coating technology developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) increases the water repellency of ballistic fabric beyond that provided by existing water repellency treatments. This increased water repellency has the potential to provide durable ballistic fabric for body armor without adding significant weight to the armor or significant manufacturing cost. Specimens of greige and scoured ballistic fabric were treated with a superhydrophobic coating and their weights and degree of water repellency were compared to specimens of untreated fabric. Treatment of both greige and scoured ballistic fabrics yielded highly water repellent fabrics. Our measurements of the water droplet contact angles gave values of approximately 150 , near the lower limit of 160 for superhydrophobic surfaces. The coatings increased the fabric weights by approximately 6%, an amount that is many times less than the estimated weight increase in a conventional treatment of ballistic fabric. The treated fabrics retained a significant amount of water repellency following a basic abrasion test, with water droplet contact angles decreasing by 14 to 23 . Microscopic analysis of the coating applied to woven fabrics indicated that the coating adhered equally well to fibers of greige and scoured yarns. Future evaluation of the superhydrophobic water repellent treatment will involve the manufacture of shoot packs of treated fabric for ballistic testing and provide an analysis of manufacturing scale-up and cost-to-benefit considerations.