Adhesion and durability of Cu film on polyester fabric prepared by finishing treatment with polyester-polyurethane and aqueous acrylate

To improve adhesion and wear durability at the interface between copper (Cu) film and polyester fabric, the Cu-coated polyester fabric was treated by two commercial solutions of polyester-polyurethane (PP) and aqueous acrylate (AC) as finishing process respectively. Both finishing agents with 5 %, 10 %, 15 %, 20 %, 25 %, 30 %, 35 % and 40 % concentrations were coated on the Cu-coated fabrics by a padding method in this study. The surface morphologies of the coated polyester fabric before and after finishing were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The adhesion of Cu-coated film before and after the finishing treatments was measured with scotch tape method; the durability was evaluated by colorfastness to washing, crocking and perspiration. Additionally, Ultraviolet (UV) shielding, water repellency and CIE L*a*b of the Cu-coated polyester fabric before and after the finishing treatments were determined. The Cu-coated polyester fabric has a high adhesion property of the 5 level, colorfastness to washing, wet crocking and perspiration of the Cu-coated fabric were obviously enhanced to level 5, level 4-5 and level 3-4. Meanwhile, The Cu-coated polyester fabric kept an excellent UV protection with UPF value over 68 after finishing treatment with PP and AC. The results demonstrate the finishing treatment with the PP presented effectively in durability performance than the AC for the Cu-coated polyester fabric.