Assessment of Coating Quality Obtained on Flame-Retardant Fabrics by a Magnetron Sputtering Method

Innovative textile materials can be obtained by depositing different coatings. To improve the thermal properties of textiles, aluminum and zirconium (IV) oxides were deposited on the Nomex^® fabric, basalt fabric, and cotton fabric with flame-retardant finishing using the magnetron sputtering method. An assessment of coating quality was conducted. Evenly coated fabric ensures that there are no places on the sample surface where the values of thermal parameters such as resistance to contact heat and radiant heat deviate significantly from the specified ones. Energy-dispersive spectroscopy was used for the analysis of modified fabric surfaces. Non-contact digital color imaging system DigiEye was also used. The criterion allowing one to compare surfaces and find which surface is more evenly coated was proposed. The best fabrics from the point of view of coating quality were basalt and cotton fabrics coated with aluminum as well as basalt fabric coated with zirconia. The probability of occurrence of places on the indicated sample surfaces where the values of thermal parameters (i.e., resistance to contact heat and radiant heat) deviated significantly from the specified ones was smaller for Nomex^® and cotton fabrics coated with zirconia and Nomex^® fabric coated with aluminum.