CHARACTERIZING TEXTILE FIBER SURFACES WITH STREAMING POTENTIAL MEASUREMENTS

A method and an instrument are described to measure the electrokinetic potential of textile materials, either fibers or fabrics. Based on th e established principles of streaming potential/current and using spec ially designed measuring cells, the zeta potential of a textile materi al is calculated by two methods. Examples of measurements are presente d to demonstrate the straightforward use of the instrument for investi gating the influence of different process steps on surface charges and adsorption properties (i.e., interaction with different process compo unds) during textile finishing processes.