Breathability and Moisture Permeability of Cellulose Nanocrystals Hollow Microsphere Coatings for PET Fabrics

In this study, cellulose nanocrystals hollow microspheres (HMs) were fabricated through Pickering emulsion polymerization, in which hydrophobically modified cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) acted as Pickering stabilizers. The hollow interior core was prepared by solvent evaporation. This manuscript describes the synthesis of HMs in detail. The hollow structure and nanoscale size of HMs were verified using TEM. The resultant HMs could easily coat self-forming films on the surface of PET fabrics. Additionally, these coatings exhibited superior breathability and moisture permeability properties with a high one-way transport index of 936.33% and a desirable overall moisture management capability of 0.72. Cellulose nanocrystal hollow microsphere coatings could be used as a moisture-wicking functionality agent for finishing fabrics, oil-water separation, and fog harvesting.