Textile Fiber Pollution: Relating Textile Features to Fiber Release in Pilling Experiments

The concern regarding microplastic pollution has increased in recent years, including microfibers which come from textiles. It is well-known that wear and tear of clothes produce fiber loss, resulting in a loss of their aesthetic and physical requirements and contributing to environmental pollution. Some properties of fibers such as their nature and length have been related to fiber losing from clothes. The aim of this work is to evaluate the contribution of a few physical, dynamic, and thermo-mechanical properties of the textiles on the susceptibility to fiber release: dimensional features at the level of fiber, yarn, and fabric, and the fabric modulus and its strain under heat. Thermal and mechanical characterization is performed in a dynamic mechanical thermal analyzer. Fiber release along time is evaluated using a pilling machine. Experimental results are analyzed by principal component analysis.