A Study on the Surface Modification of the Knitted Bamboo Fabric by DC Atmospheric Air Plasma and its Effect on Hydrophilicity

Abstract

Plasma treatment is an excellent surface modification technique used to enhance the comfort, wicking, and functional properties of fabric without using chemicals. The present work is concerned with the hydrophilic enhancement of the bamboo knitted fabric using DC atmospheric air plasma treatment. The DC air plasma treatment was carried out at various pressures; exposure times; inter-electrode distances; and currents to optimize the process parameter for the fabrics to increase the hydrophilicity rate. The effect of plasma treatment on the fabric was studied using a wicking test (AATCC 79) and percentage weight loss (ASTM D3776) of the fabric. The physical properties of the treated and untreated bamboo fabric were also analyzed using water absorption, abrasion resistance, air permeability, bursting strength, and stiffness. The surface topology and the chemical characterization of the plasma-treated fabric were studied using HR-SEM and FTIR analysis respectively. The result revealed that the optimized plasma-treated bamboo fabric showed the highest hydrophilic rate when compared with the untreated fabric and thus the treatment was feasible. In the HR SEM analysis, the treated fabric showed the etching effect but not in untreated fabric. The chemical change in the plasma-treated fabrics has represented the FTIR stretch responsible for the hydrophilicity.  Hence this kind of plasma-treated bamboo for health care and hygiene products is the need of the hour.