Evaluation of liquid moisture management properties on hemp woven fabrics treated with liquid ammonia

The effects of yarn number and liquid ammonia (L/A) treatment on the liquid moisture management properties (such as wetting time, absorption rate, maximum wetted radius, spreading speed, accumulative one-way transport capability, and overall moisture management capability) of hemp woven fabrics were evaluated by using a moisture management tester on the basis of AATCC test method 195-2011. As a result of the L/A treatment, the crystal structure of hemp fiber was changed from cellulose I into a mixture of cellulose III and cellulose I and its crystallinity was slightly decreased from 66.1% to 57.4%. From scanning electron microscopy analysis, hemp fabric looked swollen and bulked after L/A treatment. The liquid moisture management properties of the L/A-treated hemp woven fabrics showed much better results compared with the untreated ones. Overall moisture management capacity values increased as the yarn number increased and the values of the L/A-treated hemp samples are higher than those of untreated ones. This research could be valuable for the improvement of liquid moisture management properties of hemp woven fabrics.