INQUIMAE   12526
INSTITUTO DE QUIMICA, FISICA DE LOS MATERIALES, MEDIOAMBIENTE Y ENERGIA
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Mechanical Strength and Hydrophobicity of Cotton Fabric after SF6 Plasma Treatment
Autor/es:
K. KAMLANGKLA; B. PAOSAWATYANYONG; V. PAVARAJARN; JOSE H. HODAK; SATREERAT K. HODAK
Revista:
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
Editorial:
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
Referencias:
Año: 2010
ISSN:
0169-4332
Resumen:
Surface treatments to tailor fabric properties are in high demand by the modern garment industry.We studied the effect of radio-frequency inductively coupled SF6 plasma on the surface characteristicsof cotton fabric. The duration of the treatment and the SF6 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 changesand 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 than5 min. Substantial changes in the surface morphology of the fiber are concomitant with the increasedetching 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 SF6 pressure ishigher than 0.3 Torr. The water contact angle (149◦) and the absorption time (210 min) of cotton treatedwith extreme conditions appear to be durable as long as the fabric is not washed. X-ray photoelectronspectroscopy analysis reveals that the water absorption time of the fabric follows the same increasingtrend as the fluorine/carbon ratio at the fabric surface and atom density of fluorine measured by Aractinometer.