Preparation and characterization of thermal-responsive non-woven poly (propylene) materials grafted with N-isopropylacrylamide/β-cyclodextrin.

A temperature-sensitive hydrogel was successfully grafted on the surface of non-woven poly(propylene) materials. This was carried out by the application of unmodified β-cyclodextrin and N-isopropylacrylamide monomer in order to develop new functional hydrogels for textile science and technology. Graft polymerization technique was used to graft this temperature-sensitive hydrogel on the surface of plasma-treated non-woven poly(propylene) materials. Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflection, scanning electron microscopy and elemental analyses confirmed the presence of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and β-cyclodextrin components on the surface of the textile. Unmodified β-cyclodextrin content was estimated by the use of elemental analysis to be 97 µg/cm2. The water uptake measurements and differential scanning calorimetry analyses showed that the hydrogel maintained its temperature-sensitive property with a lower critical solution temperature (33.23°C) compared to a non-grafted hydrogel. The wicking time and contact angle measurements showed an improvement of the wicking ability and hydrophilicity of modified non-woven poly(propylene) materials. This investigation facilitates the preparation of smart textiles which possess the temperature-sensitive property of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and the ability of inclusion complex formation with guest molecules due to the presence of unmodified β-cyclodextrin in the hydrogel network.