Physicochemical Studies on the Surface of Polyamide 6.6 Fabrics Functionalized by DBD Plasmas Operated at Atmospheric and Sub-Atmospheric Pressures

Abstract

This work proposes the use of a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor operating at atmospheric pressure (AP) using air and sub-atmospheric pressure (SAP) using air or argon to treat polyamide 6.6 (PA6.6) fabrics. Here, plasma dosages corresponding to 37.5 kW·min·m−2 for AP and 7.5 kW·min·m−2 for SAP in air or argon were used. The hydrophilicity aging effect property of untreated and DBD-treated PA6.6 samples was evaluated from the apparent contact angle. The surface changes in physical microstructure were studied by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). To prove the changes in chemical functional groups in the fibers, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used, and the change in surface bonds was evaluated by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In addition, the whiteness effect was investigated by the color spectrophotometry (Datacolor) technique. The results showed that the increase in surface roughness by the SAP DBD treatment contributed to a decrease in and maintenance of the hydrophilicity of PA6.6 fabrics for longer. The SAP DBD in air treatment promoted an enhancement of the aging effect with a low plasma dosage (5-fold reduction compared with AP DBD treatment). Finally, the SAP DBD treatment using argon functionalizes the fabric surface more efficiently than DBD treatments in air.

Antimicrobial Effect of Plasma-Activated Tap Water on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans

“…This plasma water activation technique is inexpensive and environmentally friendly since it is free of chemicals [9]. For this type of application, atmospheric non-thermal plasmas (ANTP) are used, namely, the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) or the gliding arc plasma jet (GAPJ) [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. The plasma used as a water activating agent can be applied directly submerged in the liquid or applied to millimeters of the liquid's surface [18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

“…Thinking about the construction of a bench device for water activation/treatment, which can be used in gynecological, dental, and medical clinics, it is more advantageous to use plasma applied to millimeters from the surface, which facilitates the architecture of building a device, without lose the effectiveness of inactivation of microbial species [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. However, despite PAW's tremendous technological appeal, mainly due to its potent antimicrobial effects and wide application in clinical practice, some technical challenges need to be overcome.…”

A new approach to the assessment of changes in air permeability, waterproofness, surface, and thermal properties of polyamide 6.6 fabric with polyurethane coating after washing

“…A lesser value of 115 deg was determined by Nascimento et al. 48 and Bachurova et al. 49 received the value of 95.5 deg.…”

Digital Sublimation Printing on Knitted Polyamide 6.6 Fabric Treated with Non-Thermal Plasma

“…The flexibility of the aliphatic segments in the amorphous regions of the polyamide is also responsible for its high tenacity [6,7]. They have excellent durability due to the low friction coefficient (self-lubricating), high melting temperature, and glass transition temperature, resulting in good mechanical properties at elevated temperatures [8,9]. PA6.6 is the polymer in which the structural units are linked by amide groupings (-CONH-).…”

“…The types of plasma that can be used on textile substrates and atmospheric pressure are plasma jet (PJ), glow discharge (GD), corona discharge (CD), and dielectric barrier discharge [8]. The PJ operated at atmospheric pressure is a recent technique for modifying the surface of textile substrates that enables smooth and highly effective application at room temperature.…”