Modification of polyester fabrics by in situ plasma or post‐plasma polymerisation of acrylic acid

Abstract

In order to increase the hydrophilicities, thereby to impart soil resistance and to improve dyeability, poly(ethylene terephatalate) (polyester) fabrics were treated in low‐temperature plasmas. Two alternative modifications were applied. Fabrics were directly treated in acrylic acid plasma in one investigation, while in the other they were first treated in argon plasma and then immersed in an aqueous acrylic acid bath. The plasma conditions (i.e. exposure time and discharge power) were changed to control the extent of plasma surface modification in the first approach, while the acrylic acid content and the incubation time were changed in the second procedure. The wettability, and therefore the dyeability and soil repellency, of polyester fabrics was significantly improved by both methods. The second method resulted in better dyeability and soil repellency in contrast to lower surface wettability.

Evaluation of Aging in Air of Poly (Ethylene Terephthalat) in Oxygen Plasma

“…Low energy plasma interaction with the material occurs only on superficial level, so it only modifies a nanometric surface layer of the material and do not modify the bulk propriety of the material 7,8 . Therefore plasma technique is an important alternative to treat the surface of the textile materials, as it eliminates processing with water and use of chemical reagents [9][10][11][12] .…”

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

“…This could be mainly attributed to the activation and partial oxidation of the plasma treated surface using argon and then oxygen. 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].…”

Pretreatments of Textiles Prior to Dyeing: Plasma Processing

“…Authors have reported that HEMA monomer was graft polymerized more readily than other monomers investigated and cotton fabrics were shown to be more reactive than other fabrics. Oktem et al have incorporated acrylic acid onto the surface of polyester fabric to impart soil resistance and improve dyeability using two approaches (Oktem et al, 1999). In the first approach, in-situ polymerization of acrylic acid monomer was achieved in a glow discharge reactor.…”