Development of hydrophilic membrane for sports apparel

• Main Author: Tay, Dalston Jing En
• Other Authors: Alfred Tok Iing Yoong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Engineering::Materials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165930
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Sports activities in Singapore have seen a rise over the years. When the human body engages in such high intensity activities, high amount of heat will be generated causing the human body to sweat more than usual, especially in a warm and humid country like Singapore. If sweat is not quickly removed from the users attire, heat builds up within the body causing chances of heat injury. Pebax is a type of material that is hydrophilic material that can be used to effectively help with moisture wicking, a process that moves moisture quickly to the surface and removing any liquid. In this project, Pebax is used to create porous membranes for the purpose of moisture wicking. NaCl and CaCO3 powders were mixed into Pebax solution first and were the membranes were created after the solvents in the solution evaporates. The powders were later leached, creating the pores within the membranes. The membranes were then tested for their Water Vapour Transmission Rate (WVTR). Membranes of different amount of powders were created and the amount of pores added were compared to their WVTR values. The results shown a direct correlation of amount of pores in the membrane with their WVTR values, where an increase in the amount of pores leads to a higher WVTR value.