This work analyzes the opportunities of wider characterization of textile materials, fabrics, upholstery fabrics, fibers, yarns or others, which may accumulate electric charge. A non-contact way for electrostatic properties measurement based on affecting those materials by ions with positive or negative charge is described. The method allows to measure simultaneously the time dependences of the surface voltage and the electric charge during the charging process and the time dependences of the surface voltage during the discharging process. From the measured dependencies the following set of parameters was measured or calculated: the surface voltage limiting value, the surface voltage semi-decay time, the maximum deposited charge, the layer capacitance, the energy of the accumulated charge and others. The surface voltage distribution measurement method when the investigated textile material is affected by ion flux was also described. To verify the applicability of the proposed methods for characterization of textile materials in order to determine the above-mentioned parameters of cotton, linen, wool, viscose, acetate, polyester, polyester coated with polytetrafluoroethylene, a series of experiments were performed. The surface voltage distribution measurement method based on affecting textile materials by ions with positive charge was described and a surface voltage distribution of a polyester-cotton upholstery fabric produced by a Jacquard mechanism was presented. The performed experiments demonstrate the possibilities of method application for comparison of the electrostatic properties of different textile materials used for the same tasks or the same materials produced by different technological processes.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.19.1.3828

No abstract

The number of polymers successfully electrospun is increasing, and methods are needed predict the electrospinnability of polymers. With such methods, researchers should consider the polymer solution parameters and perform measurements in conditions that mimic the electrospinning process. A novel test method based on the electromechanical simulation of the fiber formation was developed. We formed fibers by mechanically dragging a conductive ball from the solution at an applied voltage and measuring the electrical current. The changes in the time of the electrical current (the ball current) reflect the fiber‐formation process, which depended on certain polymer solution properties (e.g., viscosity, surface tension, liquid flow) and on the influence of charges on the fiber surface. The data obtained with the proposed method was compared with experimental data from electrospinning trials with the spinneret and bubble electrospinning. The results demonstrate that the ball‐current method made it possible to predict the polymer solution behavior in the electrospinning process. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 41091.