Effect of Low Temperature Plasma Treatment on the Properties of Wool/Polyester Blend

Abstract

Low temperature plasma (LTP) treatment of textiles has emerged as one of the environmentally friendly surface modification methods. In this work, the effect of LTP treatment generated by a dielectric barrier discharge technique (DBD) under atmospheric pressure by using three different gases; oxygen, nitrogen and air, on the properties of wool/polyester blend, is studied. The induced changes in wool/polyester blend properties, such as whiteness index, wettability, surface roughness, tensile strength, elongation %, surface morphology, dyeability and fastness properties are investigated. These changes are found to be dependent on the plasma treatment conditions, such as the gas that is used, discharge power and exposure time. The LTP treatments enhance the dyeing ability of the fibres with acid, basic and disperse dyestuffs as well as the fastness properties, and represent an approach to dyeing the blend in one bath.