7 research outputs found
Morphological and Chemical Effects of Plasma Treatment with Oxygen (O2) and Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) on Cellulose Surface
Mechanical Strength and Hydrophobicity of Cotton Fabric after SF6 Plasma Treatment
Surface treatments to tailor fabric properties are in high demand by the modern garment industry. We studied the effect of radio-frequency inductively coupled SF 6 plasma on the surface characteristics of cotton fabric. The duration of the treatment and the SF 6 pressure were varied systematically. We measured the hydrophobicity of treated cotton as a function of storage time and washing cycles. We used the weight loss (%) along with the etching rate, the tensile strength, the morphology changes and the hydrophobicity of the fabric as observables after treatments with different plasma conditions. The weight loss remains below 1% but it significantly increases when the treatment time is longer than 5 min. Substantial changes in the surface morphology of the fiber are concomitant with the increased etching rate and increased weight loss with measurable consequences in their mechanical characteristics. The measured water absorption time reaches the maximum of 210 min when the SF 6 pressure is higher than 0.3 Torr. The water contact angle (149 °) and the absorption time (210 min) of cotton treated with extreme conditions appear to be durable as long as the fabric is not washed. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis reveals that the water absorption time of the fabric follows the same increasing trend as the fluorine/carbon ratio at the fabric surface and atom density of fluorine measured by Ar actinometer. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Fil: Kamlangkla, K.. Chulalongkorn University; TailandiaFil: Paosawatyanyong, B.. Chulalongkorn University; TailandiaFil: Pavarajarn, V.. Chulalongkorn University; TailandiaFil: Hodak, Jose Hector. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Mahidol University; TailandiaFil: Hodak, Satreerat K.. Chulalongkorn University; Tailandi
Characterization of physical, mechanical and chemical properties of quiscal fibres: the influence of atmospheric DBD plasma treatment
This paper reports the first attempt of characterizing various physical,
mechanical and chemical properties of Quiscal fibres, used by the native
communities in Chile and investigating the influence of atmospheric dielectric
barrier discharge plasma treatment on various properties such as diameter and
linear density, fat, wax and impurity%, moisture regain, chemical elements
and groups, thermal degradation, surface morphology, etc. According to the
experimental observations, Quiscal fibre has lower tenacity than most of the
technical grade natural fibres such as sisal, hemp, flax, etc., and plasma
treatment at optimum dose improved its tenacity to the level of sisal fibres.
Plasma treatment also reduced the amount of fat, wax and other foreign
impurities present in Quiscal fibres as well as removed lignin and
hemicellulose partially from the fibre structure. Plasma treatment led to
functionalization of Quiscal fibre surface with chemical groups, as revealed
from attenuated total reflection spectroscopy and also confirmed from the
elemental analysis using energy dispersive Xray
technique and pH and conductivity measurements of fibre aqueous extract. The wetting behavior of
Quiscal fibre also improved considerably through plasma treatment. However,
untreated and plasma treated Quiscal fibres showed similar thermal
degradation behavior, except the final degradation stage, in which plasma
treated fibres showed higher stability and incomplete degradation unlike the
untreated fibres. The experimental results suggested that the plasma treated
Quiscal fibres, like other technical grade natural fibres, can find potential
application as reinforcement of composite materials for various industrial
applications.This work is supported by Portuguese National Funding, through FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia ea Tecnologia, on the framework of project UID/CTM/00264/2013