A study on the thermal and physical properties of nylon fabric treated by metal sputtering (Al, Cu, Ni)

This research was conducted for an in-depth analysis of changes in thermal properties and in comfortability as well as physical properties before and after sputtering on fabrics. It was found that the sputtering treatment could give significant effects on the heat transfer of nylon without much loss in its shear property, water vapor transmission, and bending property, which suggested that sputtering treatment with metals on the surface of fabric helped reduce the surface temperature by releasing body heat. When the metal coating layers of the sputtered fabrics were pointed toward the cold air (15℃), the surface temperature was lowered drastically from 35℃ to 22.07℃ by depending on metals. Also, the computed surface temperatures based on the heat transfer theory displayed a high level of consistency with the measured values. The conductive fabric, which was used for comparison, showed an increased bending rigidity after sputtering, making the fabric stiffer. In the future, a metal-sputtered fabric is expected to be used as a special material by utilizing its surface temperature-controlling function in the high-functional clothing material field.