Characterization of metallic textiles deposited by magnetron sputtering and traditional metallic treatments

In this study, the surface appearance, light reflectivity and low-stress mechanical properties of magnetron sputter coated fabric were compared with traditional metallic treated fabrics. It is found that a layer of fine silver particles distributed evenly on the fabric surface with uniform grains and there were no obvious structural damages to the fabric after the sputtering. The sputter coated fabric has a greater value in reflectance and lightness than metallic powder printed fabric, but is lower than that of metallic foil laminated fabric. The values of surface geometrical smoothness (SMD) increased after metallic powder printing while decreasing slightly after sputter coating and decreasing significantly after metallic foil lamination. The tensile loading curves of both sputter coated and untreated cotton spandex fabrics are similar which indicate that the modification of sputter coating is minimal when compared with the other two metallic treatments. Therefore, sputtering has opened up new possibilities in the modification of textile materials and is an exciting prospect for usage in textile design and technical textiles.