Highly Breathable and Protective Carbon Fabrics

Hyeonji Oh; Horacio Lopez-Marques; Noah P. Wamble; Ronald J. Vogler; Raman Dhiman; Harekrushna Behera; Lettie A. Smith; Chanjong Yu; Ankit Jogdand; Tzu Yun Hsieh; Jorge Hernandez; C. Buddie Mullins; Benny D. Freeman; Manish Kumar

doi:10.1021/acsami.5c01460

Highly Breathable and Protective Carbon Fabrics

Hyeonji Oh, Horacio Lopez-Marques, Noah P. Wamble, Ronald J. Vogler, Raman Dhiman, Harekrushna Behera, Lettie A. Smith, Chanjong Yu, Ankit Jogdand, Tzu Yun Hsieh, Jorge Hernandez, C. Buddie Mullins, Benny D. Freeman, Manish Kumar

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Achieving high water vapor transport while maintaining selective barrier properties in a single material is a crucial property desired in various fields. Breathable protective fabrics is one such area. This study specifically investigates the water vapor transport characteristics and barrier performance of carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membranes for potential applications in breathable protective fabrics. CMS membranes were fabricated by pyrolyzing precursor membranes with a focus on exploring the impact of different pyrolysis temperatures, membrane structures, and polymer concentrations on the properties of such membranes. A series of symmetric and asymmetric Matrimid CMS membranes were synthesized and tested. Samples pyrolyzed at 550 °C with 10% polymer concentration exhibited remarkable water vapor transport capability, outperforming commercial breathable fabrics by a factor of 2.6 despite having 3 orders of magnitude smaller pores. Owing to these small pores, they provide 7.5 times higher protective capacity compared to commercial breathable fabrics, which is comparable to that of the standard vapor impermeable protective material─butyl rubber.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	23383-23393
Number of pages	11
Journal	ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume	17
Issue number	15
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5c01460
Publication status	Published - 2 Apr 2025
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

breathable fabrics
carbon molecular sieve membranes
chemical warfare agents
selective permeation
water vapor transport

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10.1021/acsami.5c01460

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title = "Highly Breathable and Protective Carbon Fabrics",

abstract = "Achieving high water vapor transport while maintaining selective barrier properties in a single material is a crucial property desired in various fields. Breathable protective fabrics is one such area. This study specifically investigates the water vapor transport characteristics and barrier performance of carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membranes for potential applications in breathable protective fabrics. CMS membranes were fabricated by pyrolyzing precursor membranes with a focus on exploring the impact of different pyrolysis temperatures, membrane structures, and polymer concentrations on the properties of such membranes. A series of symmetric and asymmetric Matrimid CMS membranes were synthesized and tested. Samples pyrolyzed at 550 °C with 10\% polymer concentration exhibited remarkable water vapor transport capability, outperforming commercial breathable fabrics by a factor of 2.6 despite having 3 orders of magnitude smaller pores. Owing to these small pores, they provide 7.5 times higher protective capacity compared to commercial breathable fabrics, which is comparable to that of the standard vapor impermeable protective material─butyl rubber.",

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author = "Hyeonji Oh and Horacio Lopez-Marques and Wamble, \{Noah P.\} and Vogler, \{Ronald J.\} and Raman Dhiman and Harekrushna Behera and Smith, \{Lettie A.\} and Chanjong Yu and Ankit Jogdand and Hsieh, \{Tzu Yun\} and Jorge Hernandez and Mullins, \{C. Buddie\} and Freeman, \{Benny D.\} and Manish Kumar",

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doi = "10.1021/acsami.5c01460",

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T1 - Highly Breathable and Protective Carbon Fabrics

AU - Oh, Hyeonji

AU - Lopez-Marques, Horacio

AU - Wamble, Noah P.

AU - Vogler, Ronald J.

AU - Dhiman, Raman

AU - Behera, Harekrushna

AU - Smith, Lettie A.

AU - Yu, Chanjong

AU - Jogdand, Ankit

AU - Hsieh, Tzu Yun

AU - Hernandez, Jorge

AU - Mullins, C. Buddie

AU - Freeman, Benny D.

AU - Kumar, Manish

PY - 2025/4/2

Y1 - 2025/4/2

N2 - Achieving high water vapor transport while maintaining selective barrier properties in a single material is a crucial property desired in various fields. Breathable protective fabrics is one such area. This study specifically investigates the water vapor transport characteristics and barrier performance of carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membranes for potential applications in breathable protective fabrics. CMS membranes were fabricated by pyrolyzing precursor membranes with a focus on exploring the impact of different pyrolysis temperatures, membrane structures, and polymer concentrations on the properties of such membranes. A series of symmetric and asymmetric Matrimid CMS membranes were synthesized and tested. Samples pyrolyzed at 550 °C with 10% polymer concentration exhibited remarkable water vapor transport capability, outperforming commercial breathable fabrics by a factor of 2.6 despite having 3 orders of magnitude smaller pores. Owing to these small pores, they provide 7.5 times higher protective capacity compared to commercial breathable fabrics, which is comparable to that of the standard vapor impermeable protective material─butyl rubber.

AB - Achieving high water vapor transport while maintaining selective barrier properties in a single material is a crucial property desired in various fields. Breathable protective fabrics is one such area. This study specifically investigates the water vapor transport characteristics and barrier performance of carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membranes for potential applications in breathable protective fabrics. CMS membranes were fabricated by pyrolyzing precursor membranes with a focus on exploring the impact of different pyrolysis temperatures, membrane structures, and polymer concentrations on the properties of such membranes. A series of symmetric and asymmetric Matrimid CMS membranes were synthesized and tested. Samples pyrolyzed at 550 °C with 10% polymer concentration exhibited remarkable water vapor transport capability, outperforming commercial breathable fabrics by a factor of 2.6 despite having 3 orders of magnitude smaller pores. Owing to these small pores, they provide 7.5 times higher protective capacity compared to commercial breathable fabrics, which is comparable to that of the standard vapor impermeable protective material─butyl rubber.

KW - breathable fabrics

KW - carbon molecular sieve membranes

KW - chemical warfare agents

KW - selective permeation

KW - water vapor transport

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105003089174

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DO - 10.1021/acsami.5c01460

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SN - 1944-8252

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EP - 23393

JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

IS - 15

ER -

Highly Breathable and Protective Carbon Fabrics

Abstract

Keywords

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