In this work, the silver particle absorption and antibacterial activity of cotton fabric when modified by low temperature plasma were investigated. The modification consisted of plasma prefunctionalization followed by one-step wet treatment with silver nitrate solution. Oxygen and nitrogen were used as the working gases in the system, and the results were compared. The results showed that nitrogen plasma-treated samples can absorb more silver particles than oxygen-treated samples, and thus the antibacterial activity of the samples in this case, which was analyzed by the counting bacteria test, was increased considerably.
Summary: Denim jeans have consistently been fashionable around the world. This fabric inspired strong opinions from historians, teenagers, and movie stars, and has acquired different styles throughout the years. Most jeans today are stonewashed; this technique first become popular in 1970. Now, in addition to pumice stones, enzymes are used on the cotton fabrics to create the stonewashed look. Nowadays, plasma treatment is a cost‐effective and environment‐friendly process which is able to modify the properties of the fabric surface in order to achieve this effect. Plasma surface treatment changes the properties of the fabric up to a limited depth (several molecular layers), leaving the bulk properties of even the most delicate materials unchanged. In this study, we have investigated the effect of low‐temperature Argon plasmas on the decolorizing of denim surfaces. The denim fabrics were placed on a copper cathode and were exposed to the plasmas for different periods of time, varying from 2.5 to 15 min. The homogeneity of the plasma was secured by means of a magnetic field. The results, which were very good decolorized, varnished surfaces of the fabrics will be discussed.Photographs of denim samples before (top) and after (bottom) a treatment with a low‐temperature Ar plasma.magnified imagePhotographs of denim samples before (top) and after (bottom) a treatment with a low‐temperature Ar plasma.
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