Comfort and Barrier Effectiveness of Microporous Films and Laminates
SourceMicroporous films used to reinforce barrier fabrics were tested for permeability to synthetic blood and comfort parameters. One film was tested as a finished product, laminated to a nonwoven substrate and treated to reduce surface wettability. Another film was tested with a range of adhesive coating levels to investigate the effect of adhesive on liquid penetration and thermal insulation. Synthetic blood penetration pressures and comfort parameters were evaluated. The barrier performance of the film and the finished fabric it reinforced were significantly different. There was no obvious difference between synthetic blood penetration pressures for the films with different adhesive coating levels, but there was a significant difference in the comfort indices between the films with no adhesive and those with high levels of adhesive coverage.