Barnaby Caven

Freyzein

The effects of 4 months of weather exposure on the ageing of dynamic climbing ropes made of polyamide 6 were studied and differences between ropes with and without hydrophobic coating were examined. The polyamide degradation of the rope yarns was studied using infrared spectroscopy and a quasi-static tensile test. The number of falls to failure and...

The textile modification technique of calendering was used to change the cover factor of wearable textiles in order to improve the ultraviolet protection factor and decrease the amount of ultraviolet radiation transmitted through the fabric. Using optical microscopy and ultraviolet spectrophotometry, the quantifiable changes that occurred after rep...

The adhesion generated by a gecko's foot is realised by a structural hierarchy that is also present inside the cortex of a wool fibre. Both structures are based on the same fibril building blocks that belong to the α-keratin family. We show here that this hierarchical structure can be released from a wool fibre with a combination of formic acid ref...

We reported previously that treatment of polyamide 66 with a mixture of CaCl 2 /EtOH/water results in a significant increase of surface roughness. A higher surface roughness is correlated with greater light scattering propensity, and therefore we investigated if polyamide 66 fabrics treated with the mixture exhibit lower ultraviolet (UV) transmissi...

Integration of sensors in textile garments requires the development of flexible conductive structures. In this work, cellulose-based woven lyocell fabrics were coated with copper during an electroless step, produced at 0.0284 M copper sulfate pentahydrate, 0.079 M potassium hydrogen L-tartrate, and 0.94 M formaldehyde concentrations. High concentra...

Repellent finishes are abundant in the current world, from circuit boards to military clothing. The need to prevent liquids penetrating a structure and to control the movement of liquids is of high importance. Currently perfluorinated Carbons (PFCs) lead the way, with application from the food industry (Teflon coatings) to the textile industry (Gor...

This study shows that using a combination of physical and chemical approaches, wool fiber can be systematically broken down to its constituent components. From this it was possible to investigate the antibacterial nature of wool and its two major subcomponents, the cuticle scales and cortical cells. Wool and its constituent components were subjecte...

The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of differences in water vapor permeability (WVP) of outdoor jackets on moisture management, subjective perceptions and physiological parameters under conditions typically encountered in outdoor sports. Four outdoor jackets differing only in their WVP were compared in a repeated measures study. A...

The complex hierarchical structure of the wool fibre, both in terms of chemical and physical morphology, offer various components with differing, yet desirable properties. This study showed how the wool fibre can be systematically reverse engineered into its constituent components, with minimal to no chemical or physical change to the desired compo...

An ideal absorbent dressing requires high absorbency, moisture retaining and antimirobial properties. In this study, the application of silver-containing spacer fabric as an antimicrobial wound dressing was investigated. The silver distribution on spacer fabric was different from layer-by-layered fabric. The middle layer of spacer fabric contained...

The complex hierarchical structure of the wool fibre, both in terms of chemical and physical morphology, offer various components with differing, yet desirable properties. This study showed how the wool fibre can be systematically reverse engineered into its constituent components, with minimal to no chemical or physical change to the desired compo...

Poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)-encapsulated n-octadecane nanocapsules (PDDA-Oc-cap) were easily immobilized on cationized cotton at ambient temperature using poly(4-styrenesulfonic acid) (PSS) as a binder. The cationized cotton was first treated with 1-50mM of PSS and then soaked in the PDDA-Oc-cap emulsion in order to obtain stepwise PSS/P...

The demands on clothing for alpine-based winter sports, competitive and recreational alike, are a fine balancing act between the physiological demands of the user and the event performance requirements (comfort vs. performance), whilst maintaining the appropriate degree of safety in one of nature’s most unpredictable and hostile environments. In th...

Wool in outdoor clothing systems is stated to be a good temperature and humidity regulator giving the wearer a warm and dry feeling during physical activities in the cold. The objective was to compare two different battings (sheep wool “tirolwool” (TW) versus polyester microfiber (PMF)) in an outdoor jacket of a two-layer outdoor clothing system co...

The objective of this investigation was to achieve an understanding about the relationship between heat stress and performance limitation when wearing a two-layer fire-resistant light-weight workwear (full-clothed ensemble) compared to an one-layer short sports gear (semi-clothed ensemble) in an exhaustive, stressful situation under moderate therma...