AUTEX Research Journal, Vol. 16, No 3, September 2016, DOI: 10.

1515/aut-2015-0021 © AUTEX

INVESTIGATION INTO THE UV-PROTECTION OF WOVEN FABRICS COMPOSED

OF METALLIC WEFT YARNS

Mohammad Ghane*, Ehsan Ghorbani

Department of Textile Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran

*Corresponding author: m-ghane@cc.iut.ac.ir

Abstract:

The destructive effects of sun UV radiation on human skins are now very clear to everyone. Most of the present
studies were focused on the fabrics’ structural parameters such as density, warp and weft yarns finenesses, fabric
pattern and printing or finishing treatments applied to the fabrics. The aim of this work is achieving a technique through
which the produced fabrics possess a higher UV-protection ability. For this purpose, two different metals including
aluminium and copper yarns were employed in fabrics production process and their effects on UV-protection ability
of the produced fabrics were investigated. Six different fabric samples comprised of either cotton/polyester, nylon
yarns as the warp yarns as well as either aluminium or copper yarns as the weft yarns were produced. Using the
spectrophotometer technique, which is known as one of the UPF measuring method, the absorbency and reflectivity
of fabrics within the specified range of electromagnetic waves (specially the UV radiation) were determined. The
results illustrated that the higher UV absorbency was related to the fabric possessing the copper yarns in their
structures. It was concluded that the absorption ability of nylon fabrics is higher than that of the cotton/polyester
samples.

Keywords:

Woven fabric, Metallic yarns, UV protection, radiation energy, spectral irradiance, spectrophotometer,

1. INTRODUCTION materials of bleaching, UV absorptive materials and other

chemical treatments [2]. Butola and Joshi studied the photo
Among the variety of radiations, ultraviolet sun rays (UV) stability of HDPE filaments stabilized with UV absorbers (UVA)
allocated the highest radiant energy. UVA and UVB with 320–340 [3]. They assessed the UV protective ability of the HDPE films
nm and 280–320 nm wavelengths, respectively, are classified by measuring Ultra Violet Protection Factor (UPF). They
as subsets of this kind of radiation which have some destructive concluded that UV absorbers improve the stability of the
effects on human skins such as cancroids, premature skin filaments significantly. Chowdhury et al investigated on the
aging, rashes and even the skin sunburn. Nowadays, these effect of UV radiant on the photochromic properties of some
problems are being prevalent due to the gradual destruction colorants in textile applications [4].
of ozone layer which is known as an atmosphere protective
layer against the UV radiation. The results of studies indicate In general, a fabric is comprised of fibres which could absorb,
that decreasing 2 to 5 per cent of ozone concentration leads reflect or scatter the emitted radiation. As a result of these
to increasing the skin cancer disease. In addition to ozone phenomena, the sun radiant energy would be prevented to
destruction, the Environment Security Agency of America has meet the skin. The fabric behaviour in associated with the
estimated almost 3 to 15 million cases of skin cancer disease sunbeam radiation on its surface is illustrated in Figure 1.
for year 2075, which is mainly due to the changes of human
lifestyles and too much exposure into the sun radiation [1]. In numerous studies, it has been demonstrated that fibre
types and textile processes have significant effect on UV
In the recent decades, lots of tries were held by different protection [5, 6, 7, 8]. Saravanan [9] performed a survey on the
researchers in order to decrease the exposure of UV effective parameters of textile materials on the UV protection
radiations. Producing the sun glasses, protective hats and performance of textile materials. Saravanan concluded that
some other equipment based on textile structure are the the best technique for reducing UV exposure is to avoid sun
results of researchers’ studies. Generally, the UV protection exposure, but this is an unacceptable solution to all. Recreational
ability of textile products depends on different factors including exposure accounts for most of the significant UVR exposures
fibres type, weave pattern, colour, treatment operation, of the population, and occupational exposure is significant.
additive materials and also the washing procedure. In some Farouk et al. [10] reported the synthesis and characterization
other researches, the main protective parameters of fabrics of nanosized zinc oxide particles to improve the UV absorption
are enumerated as fibres type, fabric structure, specific of fabric. They modified sol-gel-based inorganic-organic hybrid
porosity, fabric thickness and areal density, moisture content, polymers with these particles and applied to cellulosic cotton
and some finishing treatments such as dying, fluorescence (100%) and cotton/polyester (65/35%) fabrics.

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They concluded that the agreement between the two sets of

results was very good. Dimitrovski et al [21] evaluated the
structure of monofilament PET woven fabrics and their UV
protection properties and presented a mathematical model.
They argued that mathematical model enables the calculation
of the UPF values of woven fabrics by which adequate UV
protection properties could be achieved.

2. Experiment

2.1. Sample preparation

Before preparing the fabric samples, it should be considered

that the metallic yarns don’t have a sufficient strength in order
to be wrapped on the beam. Thus, they were sued as weft. The
diameter of copper and aluminium yarns was 200 micrometres.
The warp yarns consist of cotton/polyester and nylon. The
specifications of cotton/polyester and nylon yarns used in this
research are given in Table 1.
Table 1. Yarns specifications used in fabric structures

Yarn type Cotton/polyester Nylon6

Figure 1. Fabric behaviour against the sun beam radiation [2] Blend ratio 40:60 100
Yarn count 20 Ne 300 Den
For this reason, considering the history of fibre production
process would be known as an essential point in order to Multiply/
Single ply 6 filaments
conduct such an accurate investigation. In other literatures [11], multifilament
considering the composition of fibre-dying-finishing has been
emphasized more than the fibres only.
Along with adding the metal component within the fabric
According to the investigations performed on 30 different structures, two essential points must be considered: the first
kinds of commercial textiles by Gambishler et al [12], it was point is the metal type selection and the second one relates
observed that the bleached cotton, linen, and viscous-rayon to the question whether the metallic yarns could be used as
fibres have low protection ability against the UV radiation. warp and weft of fabrics or not. Because of the abundance
Studies of Curiskis and Piltrope [13] also declared the same and low cost of copper as well as the low density of aluminium
result. They stated that the bleached cotton would probably be compared to the other metals, these two kinds of metal were
more affected against the UV radiation due to the elimination used in fabric samples production. Detailed information about
of natural pigments during the bleaching process. Algaba et the copper and aluminium metals used in this work are given in
al [14] found that the lack of UV-protection ability of fabrics Tables 2 and 3, respectively.
produced from bleached cotton yarns wouldn’t be compensated Table 2. Copper specifications, Commercial Code 22000
by increasing the fabric density. Crews et al [15] demonstrated
that the bleaching operation could significantly increase the UV Component (%)
transmission ability of fabrics. As an example, they concluded Cu Fe Pb Ni Zn Others
that UV radiation transmission ability of bleached silky fabrics
88 - 91 0.1 0.3 0.5 7.9 – 10.9 0.2
is 4 times higher than that of the non-bleached sample. Reinert
et al investigated the woollen fabrics UPF factor though their
Table 3. Aluminium specifications, Commercial Code 1100
researches. They have demonstrated that the pores within
the wool fibre structure would significantly increase the fibre Component (%)
protection ability. Thereafter, Davis et al investigated the UV Al Be Si Fe Cu Mn Zn others
protection of fabrics produced from different kinds of fibres by
considering the same structure and weight. They concluded that 98 0.0008 0.95 0.1 0.05 – 0.2 0.05 0.1 0.15
UV-resistance of nylon, acrylic and acetate fibres is relatively
low and consequently these structures could be classified in
poor protection group [16-19]. In total, six types of fabrics were produced. The wave pattern
for all fabric samples was plain wave. The warp and weft
Gies et al. [20] studied the ultraviolet radiation protection by density were identical for all fabric samples and were set to be
clothing. They detailed a comparison of UPFs derived from the 16 threads per centimetre. The characteristics of the produced
in vitro tests for 16 fabric samples against in vivoSPF tests. samples are given in Table 4.

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Table 4. The characteristics of woven fabric samples

the world, indicate the protection ability of textiles based on
Fabric Weave Warp Weft
the experimental measurements according to the standard
sample pattern yarn yarn
AS/NZS 4399:1996Sun Protective Clothing—Evaluation and
Cotton/ Cotton/ Classification. This factor could be calculated as the ratio of
Co Plain
polyester polyester effective UV radiation mean value for an unprotected skin to the
Nylon6 mean value of this radiation for the skin protected by a fabric
Co-Al Plain Nylon6 or other coatings. In other words, according to the Equation 1
[17]:
Cotton/
Co-Cu Plain Copper
polyester 400 nm

Cotton/
∑ Eλ Sλ ∆λ
Ny Plain Aluminium UPF = 290 nm
400 nm
polyester
∑ E λ SλTλ ∆λ
Nylon6 290 nm (1)
Ny-Al Plain Copper

Nylon6 where El is defined as the relative Erythermal spectral

Ny-Cu Plain Aluminium
effectiveness (unitless), Sl is Solar UVR spectral irradiance
(Wm-2nm-1), Tl is the measured transitional spectrum of the
fabric, l is wavelength (nm) and Dl is the bandwidth (nm).
A weaving machine was used to produce the fabrics. During
the fabric production, the aluminium and copper metallic yarns After preparing the fabric samples according to the Table 4, their
were inserted within the fabric structures as weft yarns. The behaviour under the UV radiation exposure was evaluated. To
woven fabrics structures comprised of different components perform the experiments, Jasco V-570 spectrometer apparatus
and are illustrated in Figure 2. and a Jasco ARN-475 connector were employed. Details of
spectrometer characteristics are presented in Table 6.

Using specified software called Spectra Manager, the

introduction to the spectroscopy can be defined for the
system. In this research, the 1/52/01 version of the software
programmed by Jasco company (2001) was used. The Spectra
Manager software also can be employed for plotting the data
resulting from the spectroscopy experiments. After performing
the spectrophotometer, the values of spectrum for each sample
were saved as a doc file in a Cartesian coordinate XY. These
saves doc files were used for plotting the spectroscopy curves
for the samples as well as the mean value of their spectrum.
Table 6. The characteristics of Jasco V-570 spectrometer apparatus

Wavelength rang 190 – 2500 nm

Measurement
0.3 nm
accuracy
Figure 2. Fabric structures, (A) cotton/polyester fabric, (B) nylon fabric,
(C) cotton/polyester fabric with aluminium weft yarns, (D) nylon fabric Type of the lamp Tungsten – Deuterium
with aluminium weft yarns, (E) cotton/polyester fabric with copper weft
yarns, and (F) nylon fabric with copper weft yarns Type of the detector PbS Photocell – PMT
Relative / absolute reflection
2.2. Evaluation of textiles protection against the UV
measurement, Enzyme and
radiation Capability
colour analysing, multicomponent
materials analysing
UPF is an important quality index that represents the textile
protection ability against the sun radiations. The higher UPF
of a specific textile indicates its higher protection ability. UPF 3. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
indeed expresses the time of exposure in which one individual
can be stand under the sun radiation by wearing a protective The spectroscopy for each fabric type was performed according
textile without suffering from any sun related damages [2]. to the procedure mentioned above. For each fabric types, four
samples were tested and average curves were obtained. The
In order to calculate the UV protection factor (UPF) of textiles, average absorption curves in the case of cotton/PET and Nylon
which is known as fabric resistance ability against UV fabrics are shown in Figures 3 and 4.
radiations, some quantitative experiments by using different
measuring instruments are available [12]. The word UPF
which is widely used in textile and clothing industries all over

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AUTEX Research Journal, Vol. 16, No 3, September 2016, DOI: 10.1515/aut-2015-0021 © AUTEX 400nm

 E S 
UPF  290nm
400nm
In order to calculate the UPF index of fabric samples, the 290–400 nm wavelength with an increment of one nanometre
standard values of Sl, El and Tlare needed. The values of 
290nm
E S T 
(Dl=1). According to Equation (1), the protection factor can
Sl were determined based on ASTM G173-03 Reference be determined; as in Equation (3) in the case of Cotton/PET-
Spectra (SMARTS v. 2.9.2). The values of El were determined Aluminium fabric:
based on erythema action spectrum (BS ISO 17166:1999).
400nm
The values were determined between the ranges of 290 and
400 nm with the increment of one nanometre in each stage
 E S  7.2 (2)
UPF (Co  Al )  400
290nm
nm
  2.8557
(Dl=1). The amounts of the transmitted spectrum Tl were also 2.5078
measured for all fabric types from spectroscopy data and  
290nm
E S T 
average absorption cures in figures 3 and 4 in the range of

Figure 3. Average curves of abortion of cotton/PET fabrics

Figure 4. Average curves of abortion of Nylon fabrics

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Similarly, the amounts of the transmitted spectrum Tl (with UPF are given in Table 9. It can be seen that adding copper
Dl=1) for other fabrics were measured at the wavelength has increased the UPF of the fabric slightly. However, the
ranged between 290 and 400 nm and their UPF indexes were differences are not statistically significant. The presence of
calculated according to equation 1. aluminium in fabric structure leads to significant differences in
decrement between the categories.
The results of UPF indexes (protection factors) for all of the Table 9. Duncan test results of UPF for cotton/polyester woven fabrics
fabric samples prepared for this investigation are given in Table
7. Subset for alpha
N = 0.05
VAR00001
Table 7. UPF indexes of woven fabrics 1
2
UPF
Fabric sample Fabric type
value Cotton-Aluminium 3 2.9060

Co Cotton/Polyester 4.3926 Cotton-Copper 3 4.4477

Duncana
Co-Al Cotton/polyester/Aluminium 2.8557 Cotton-Cotton 3 4.5154

Co-Cu Cotton/Polyester/Copper 4.4240 Sig. 1.000 .875

Ny Nylon 4.0883
Ny-Al Nylon/Aluminium 3.1020 According to the Table 10, the results of Duncan test for the
samples show that the presence of aluminium in fabric structure
Ny-Cu Nylon/Copper 5.9254
has no significant effect while adding the copper component
within the fabrics sample leads to differences in increment
The results illustrated that fabrics produced from copper yarns, between the categories.
exhibit the highest protection properties. This is also indicated Table 10. Duncan test results of UPF for nylon woven fabrics
by the absorption curves of the fabrics shown in Figures 3 and
4. In the range of 240–400 nm, the absorption ratio of the fabrics Subset for
N alpha = 0.05
composed of Copper weft yarns is higher than the aluminium VAR00001
1
composed fabric. To explain the reason, the emissivity 2
coefficient of the materials must be considered. The emissivity
Nylon-Aluminium 3 3.1340
coefficients of some materials are shown in Table 8. According
to Table 8, emissivity coefficient for aluminium, copper and Nylon-Nylon 3 4.2820
cotton cloth is 0.05, 0.78 and 0.75, respectively. Regarding Duncana
Nylon-copper 3 5.9693
an ideal black Body law, higher emissivity coefficient leads to
more electromagnetic absorption and consequently enhances Sig. 0.066 1.000
UV protection factor of fabric. With respect to higher Copper
emissivity coefficient, the results of both Cotton-PET and Nylon
6 fabrics were supposed to indicate UPF improvement. 4. CONCLUSIONS
Table 8. Various Emissivity Coefficients
From the UPF results obtained for different woven fabrics,
Emissivity
Materials it was observed that for those fabrics containing the copper
Coefficient
0.02 Unoxidised Aluminium yarns, the higher UPF value was achieved in comparison to
0.11 Oxidized Aluminium fabrics containing the aluminium yarns. The emission-ability
0.31 Heavily Oxidized coefficients for aluminium, copper, and cotton fabric are 0.05,
0.18 Roughly Polished 0.78 and 0.75, respectively. Considering the laws of an ideal
black object, the higher emission-ability coefficient of a textile
0.09 Aluminium Commercial Sheet
material leads to an increase in the possibility of electromagnetic
0.05 Aluminium Alloy 1100
wave absorption. The copper, due to its high emission-ability
0.93 Asphalt
coefficient, is able to absorb much more electromagnetic
0.93 Red brick
waves. As a result, the possibility of light transmission through
0.6-0.7 Cast Iron, turned and heated
the copper fabric would be decreased and so these structures
0.03 Copper electroplated
could be considered as an acceptable alternative for other
0.78 Annealed Copper
commonly used protective textiles.
0.023 - 0.052 Copper Polished
0.77 Cotton Cloth
0.95 - 0.963 Water
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Statistical analysis on the experimental results also confirmed The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to the
that copper constructed fabrics show higher UPF in deputy of research of Isfahan University of Technology for the
compression to Aluminium constructed fabrics. The Duncan financial support.
statistical analysis results of cotton/polyester woven fabrics

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