Research on high-velocity ballistic impact of para-aramid sateen fabric with ZnO nanorods oriented to the development of soft body armor

[Display omitted] •Highlight 1: The BFS of S-11-Nrs fabric panel is decreased by 10 % ∼16.8 % and the continuous protection has been increased from 4 shots to 5 shots.•Highlight 2: Other than the enhancements for ballistic performance, S-11-Nrs fabric panel still retains its flexibility, air permeability, and moisture permeability. This study introduces an innovative approach of utilizing ZnO nanorod growing technology to the sateen fabric in order to improve its ballistic performance. Through SEM, FTIR, XRD and XPS analyses, ZnO nanorods with majority length of 1000–1500 nm and fineness of 200–600 nm have been deposited on the surface of sateen fabric surface Compared the fabric with ZnO nanorods (S-11-Nrs) with its neat counterpart, the mechanical properties of S-11-Nrs are increased, especially the inter-filament friction and fabric tensile breaking strength. However, in the impact process, the number of filaments involved in the impact is reduced and the filaments are mainly failure by the shear action of the bullets. Due to these positive and negative effects, the energy absorption of S-11-Nrs displays inferior ballistic energy absorption. Nevertheless, at lower areal density, in the non-perforation test, S-11-Nrs presents less BFS and shows better resistance to the consecutive shotting process compared with the neat fabric. The reason is that the increase of inter-filament friction limits the movement of filaments and thus results in less BFS. In addition, the flexibility, air permeability and moisture permeability are still kept. This research offers valuable insights for the design and development of comfortable soft body armor.