Facing the rain after the phase out : Performance evaluation of alternative fluorinated and non-fluorinated durable water repellents for outdoor fabrics

• Fluorinated durable water repellent (DWR) agents are used to obtain water and stain repellent textiles. Due to the on-going phase-out of DWRs based on side-chain fluorinated polymers (SFP) with long perfluoroalkyl chains, the textile industry lacks suitable alternatives with comparable material characteristics. The constant development and optimization of SFPs for textile applications initiated more than half a century ago has resulted in a robust and very efficient DWR technology and textiles with exceptional hydro- and oleophobic properties. The industry is now in the predicament that the long-chain SFPs with the best technical performance have undesirable toxicological and environmental behavior. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the technical performance of presently available fluorinated and non-fluorinated DWRs as part of a chemical alternatives assessment (CAA). The results are based on a study with synthetic outdoor fabrics treated with alternative DWRs and tested for repellency using industrial standard and complementary methods. Using this approach, the complex structure-property relationships of DWR polymers could be explained on a molecular level. Both short chain SFPs and non-fluorinated DWRs showed excellent water repellency and durability in some cases while short-chain SFPs were more robust of the alternatives to long-chain SFPs. A strong decline in oil repellency and durability with perfluoroalkyl chain length was shown for SFP DWRs. Non-fluorinated alternatives

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Textil-, gummi- och polymermaterial (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Textile, Rubber and Polymeric Materials (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Annan kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Other Chemistry Topics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Chemical alternatives assessment

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances outdoor apparel

Water repellency

Oil repellency

Sustainability

Applied Environmental Science

tillämpad miljövetenskap

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