Study on wettability improvement and its uniformity of wool fabric treated by atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Abstract

The influence of processing parameters on wettability improvement and its uniformity of wool fabric treated by atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) was explored. A woven wool fabric was treated by APPJ under various treatment conditions such as different treatment time, different oxygen flow rate, and different jet-to-substrate distance. The water absorption time of wool fabric was measured to determine wettability improvement. The diffusion photo of water droplet on wool fabric surface was taken by digital camera to reflect wettability uniformity. After APPJ treatment, SEM observation showed that the scales on the wool fiber surface directly facing plasma jet pores were destroyed than those on the other fiber surface. XPS analysis showed that the carbon concentration substantially decreased. The concentration of oxygen and nitrogen significantly increased and but the concentration of sulfur and silicon did not obviously changed. With the addition of oxygen gas, more polar groups such as hydroxyl and carboxyl produced on wool fiber surface. The water absorption time of wool fabric greatly reduced indicating wettability improvement. The diffusion of water droplet on wool fabric surface was also larger and more homogenous suggesting uniform plasma treatment. It was concluded that the wettability improvement and its uniformity of the treated wool fabric increased and then decreased with the increasing oxygen flow rate and jet-tosubstrate distance, and increased with the increasing treatment time. Therefore to achieve reasonable wettability and its uniformity of the wool fabric treated by APPJ, plasma treatment conditions have to be carefully chosen.

Quantitative and sensory evaluation of malodour retention of fibre types by use of artificial skin, sweat and radiolabelled isovaleric acid

“…Although all fabric samples were of similar construction and showed similar WVP, water sorption and wettability differed significantly depending on the fibre type and finish. Untreated wool is known for its low water sorption and bad wettability; [38] as expected, the wool sample displayed the lowest water sorption value. In general, untreated PES is also hydrophobic with a wettability of >600 s. [39] In contrast to that, for our studies we chose a finished, hydrophilised PES material, typically used as first-layer clothing, which displayed a wettability of 118 s. The b-cyclodextrin finish increased WVP of all fabrics, but water sorption was considerably increased in WO, slightly increased in PES, and slightly decreased for CO. Wettability (i.e.…”

“…Although all fabric samples were of similar construction and showed similar WVP, water sorption and wettability differed significantly depending on the fibre type and finish. Untreated wool is known for its low water sorption and bad wettability; as expected, the wool sample displayed the lowest water sorption value. In general, untreated PES is also hydrophobic with a wettability of >600 s .…”

Plasma Treatment in Textile Industry

“…The application of APPJ on woven wool fabric showed a great wettability improvement and uniform plasma treatment. These effects decreased with the increasing oxygen flow rate and jet‐to‐substrate distance, and increased with the increasing of treatment time …”

Directional Trans-Planar and Different In-Plane Water Transfer Properties of Composite Structured Bifacial Fabrics Modified by a Facile Three-Step Plasma Treatment

“…It has been shown that plasma treatment using inorganic gas (such as argon, helium and oxygen) introduced new active sites on the surface and etched the fibre surface of the polyester and acrylic [42,43]. For wool fibres, partial removal of lipid layer and formation of cysteic acid after plasma was reported, which confers surface wettability and enhances the wicking properties of the fabrics [28,44,45]. Although sampling issues and visualisation of thin polymer films deposited on fibres using scanning electron microscopy are problematic, there was some evidence to suggest that silicon polymer is formed only on the fibre surface of the coated face (hydrophobic face).…”