Anti-ultraviolet finishing of PET fabrics with nano-ZrO_2 sol

For applying nano-particles to the functional finishing of textiles,nano-ZrO2 sol was prepared by sol-gel method and the PET fabrics was treated with the ZrO2 sol by dip-padding process.A thin layer of nano-ZrO2 particles was formed onto the surface of the fabrics after being cured.The effects of concentration of reactant,type of hydrolysis promoter and the ratio of reactant to hydrolysis promoter on the particle size of ZrO2 sol were analyzed,and the optimal reaction conditions for preparing nano-ZrO2 sol were determined as follows: concentration of the reactant 0.10 mol/L,hydrogen peroxide as hydrolysis promoter,mass ratio of hydrogen peroxide to ZrCl4 =1∶1;and the average diameter of ZrO2 sol obtained under optimal reaction conditions was 60 nm.The ultraviolet protection factor(UPF) of the treated PET fabrics enhances from 86 to 185(cured at 150 ℃),which has a much lower ultraviolet ray transmission in UVA.The UPF value still remains 132 after 50 washing cycles,indicating that it has considerable washing durability.