Fabric surface properties affected by low temperature plasma treatment

Previous investigation results revealed that after plasma treatment wool and cotton fabric specimens showed increased hydrophilicity and improved scouring and dyeing processing by nearly 50%. In this paper, two kinds of plasma gases polymerizing plasma gas hexafluoroethane (C2F6) and non-polymerizing reactive plasma gas oxygen (O2) were employed to treat wool and cotton fabrics. Not only is the topography of the surface modified using different plasma gases but also the chemical composition of the surface. Many analytical skills have been used to characterise the differing aspects of the surface of the fabric such as SEM, XPS, etc.