Mechanical Properties of Weft-Knitted Spacer Fabrics Integrated with Silica Aerogels

TS101; The work investigated surface and mechanical properties of untreated and treated three-layered weft-knitted spacer fabrics.In order to optimize the mechanical properties of weft-knitted spacer fabrics, silica aerogels ( SAs) coating was employed.Scanning electron microscopy ( SEM) images of untreated and treated spacer fabrics were analyzed to ensure the presence of SAs on the coated spacer fabrics.The basic properties of uncoated and coated weft-knitted spacer fabrics were studied and compared.Tensile strength and initial modulus were studied according to the GB/T3923 test standard YG026MB-250 by testing machine. Moreover, compression properties of spacer fabrics were also tested by HD026G test instrument.In this testing, work of compression, the linearity of compression, recovery work of compression and other parameters were calculated from stress and strain curves.It was found that SAs coating has a significant influence on the mechanical properties of weft-knitted spacer fabrics.The statistical analysis also verified the significant performance ( P value smaller than 0.05) of treated fabric samples at the 0.05 level.