Corona Glow Discharge Plasma Treatment for Hidrophylicity Improvement of Polyester and Cotton Fabrics

The effects of irradiation by a corona glow discharge plasma on hidrophylicity properties of polyester and cotton fabrics were investigated. We used a corona glow discharge plasma reactor with multiple points to plane electrodes, which was generated by a high voltage DC. Factors that affect the hidrophylicity properties were identified and evaluated as functions of irradiation parameters, which include duration of treatment, distance between electrodes, and bias voltage. It was readily observed from SEM examinations that plasma changed the surface morphology of both polyester and cotton fibers, giving result to an increased roughness to both of them. Results also showed that the hidrophylicity of polyester and cotton fabrics improved by the treatment, which is proportional to the time of treatment and voltage, but inversely proportional to the distance between electrodes. Time of treatment that provided the optimum enhancement of hidrophylicity for cotton is 15 minutes which improved the wetting time from 8.16 seconds to 1.26 seconds. For polyester, it took 15 minutes of irradiation time to improve the wetting time from 7340 seconds to 2905 seconds. The optimum distance between electrodes for both fabrics in this study was found to be 2 cm. Further analysis showed that the improved hidrophylicity properties is due to the creation of surface radicals by free radicals in the plasma leading to the formation of new water-attracting functional groups on the fiber surface.