Fabrication of Recycled Polycarbonate Fibre for Thermal Signature Reduction in Camouflage Textiles

Thermal signature reduction in camouflage textiles is a vital requirement to protect soldiers from detection by thermal imaging equipment in low-light conditions. Thermal signature reduction can be achieved by decreasing the surface temperature of the subject by using a low thermally conductive material, such as polycarbonate, which contains bisphenol A. Polycarbonate is a hard type of plastic that generally ends up in dumps and landfills. Accordingly, there is a large amount of polycarbonate waste that needs to be managed to reduce its drawbacks to the environment. Polycarbonate waste has great potential to be used as a material for recycled fibre by the melt spinning method. In this research, polycarbonate roofing-sheet waste was extruded using a 2 mm diameter of spinnerette and a 14 mm barrel diameter in a 265 degrees C temperature process by using a lab-scale melt spinning machine at various plunger and take-up speeds. The fibres were then inserted into 1 x 1 rib-stitch knitted fabric made by Nm 15 polyacrylic commercial yarns, which were manufactured by a flat knitting machine. The results showed that applying recycled polycarbonate fibre as a fibre insertion in polyacrylic knitted fabric reduced the emitted infrared and thermal signature of the fabric.