Developing Hydrophilic Textiles by Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment

KIRAN KALE, A.V.GORE, SHEETAL PALASKAR

THE BOMBAY TEXTILE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION

Generation of Plasma

Plasmas are generated in gases by heating, by applying a voltage, or by injecting electromagnetic waves. Electrical discharges commonly used

The ignition is brought about by the small fraction of charged particles always present in the gas.

Electron interactions in plasma

Emission of characteristic glow when it comes to ground state

PROPAGATION

GENERATION

LOSS OF ELECTRONES

Plasma Species determine the plasma type

Electron density Ion density Electron/ion temperature Interactions between electron-electron, ionelectron, ion-ion etc are possible Plasma exhibit broad range of spectrum i.e electron density from few to 10 25/cm3 Different mean path length

PLASMA PROCESS PARAMETERS System pressure Electrode configuration Nature of gas Flow rate of gas Power Time of treatment Nature of substrate

PLASMA Dependency on System Pressure To initiate and sustain the plasma continuous supply of energy is must.
Vb= f (p .d) At fixed applied voltage, d must decrease, as we increase the pressure

Electrode configuration and features

Geometry of electrodes Symmetry of electrodes

Presence of Dielectric Barrier

Spacing between the electrodes

Types of Gas Used

The type of gas determines the nature of interaction between the substrate and the plasma i.e. etching, grafting, polymerisation Breakdown energy necessary to produce plasma varies

Inert gases
He, Ar are commonly used . These are used for cleaning, activation purpose They act as diluting media for reactive gas

Oxygen containing plasma plasma:

Importance of reactive gas in surface modifications can react with wide range of polymers Impart various functional groups like c-o, c=o, o-c-o, c-o-o etc

Types of Gas Used contd..

Fluorine containing plasma
CFx etching and polymerisation :

Hydrocarbons :
methane, ethane, ethylene to generate plasma polymerised hydrocarbon film to impart microhardness, optical refractive index and impermeability

Organosllicone monomers :
excellent thermal and chemical resistance

Nitrogen containing plasma

to improve wettability, printability biocompatibility of the substrate

Why Helium in glow discharges? Media for uniform glow discharge and carrier of reactive gases Mean free path Possibility of collisions Meta stable state configuration Simple energy levels Thermal conduction properties support the uniform discharge

Discharge power Supply

 The energy required to generate plasma depend on the nature of gas and equipment  Higher power means high kinetic energy of the reactive species  Optimization depends with the substrate and system parameters

Duration of treatment
The extent of treatment can be varied with time

Hydrophilic textiles with Atmospheric Pressure Plasma

 Polyester/cotton blended textiles  Why treatment of P/C blended textiles?  Treatment carried out at Textile Chemistry, Science and Engineering department of NCSU, Raleigh, USA.

Objectives
1. To impart hydrophilicity to the textiles with atmospheric pressure plasma 2. To assess the effect of plasma treatment with measurement of wicking behaviour and surface characteristics 3. To study influence of following process variables
Intensity of Glow Discharge (Power Supply) Duration of Treatment Nature of Gas Gas concentration (Flow rate) Distance between substrate and electrode

Materials and methods

Fabric: Polyester/cotton blended RFD fabric Blend composition 67/33 epi / ppi : 90/70 GSM: 88

Machine: Atmospheric Pressure Glow Discharge at RF 13.56 MHz

Atmospheric Pressure Glow Discharge at RF 13.56 MHz

RF generator Electrodes Gas input Evaporator Cooling for system

Assessment of Efficiency of Hydrophilic Treatment

Capillary rise up to 30 min Interval of measurement of height-every 5 min.

Discharge Intensity v/s Wicking Height

Height of capillary rise (cm)

wicking time
C Discharge Intensity (Watts) 400 500 600 700

5 min 0.4 0.6 0.9 0.9 0.85

10 min 0.9 1.35 1.65 2 1.5

15 min 1.4 1.85 2.35 2.7 2.6

20 min 1.7 2.5 2.85 3.4 3.35

25 min 2.1 2.9 3.45 4.3 4.1

30 min 2.4 3.3 3.95 5 4.8

He : 40 LPM

O2 : NIL
D: 0.13 T: 25 sec

Role of Discharge Intensity of He Plasma with O2

Height of capillary rise (cm) Wicking time
C

5 min
0.4

10 min
0.9

15 min
1.4

20 min
1.7

25 min
2.1

30 min
2.4

Intensity of Discharge (Watts)

400 500 600 700

2.3 2.45 3.2 3.6

ise (c )

3.35 3.45 4.55 4.55

4.25 4.3 5.35 5.4

4.95 5.35 5.9 6.05

5.45 5.95 6.3 6.6

6.1 6.6 7 7.1

effect of o er on ca i ary rise

He : 40 LPM O2 : 0.15 LPM D: 0.13 T: 25 sec

Height of Ca i ary

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

5 min 10 min 15 min 20 min 25 min 30 min 400 500 Po er (Watts) 600 700

Effect of Duration of Treatment

Height of capillary rise (cm) Wicking time 5 min C Treatment Time (sec) 14 20 25 37
effect of treatment time on capilary rise Height of Capilary Rise (cm) 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 C 14 20
treatment time (sec)

10 min 0.9 0.95 2.1 2.55 4.1

15 min 1.4 1.55 2.9 3.35 5.4

20 min 1.7 1.9 3.75 4.2 6.4

25 min 2.1 2.4 4.6 4.8 7

30 min 2.4 2.7 5.3 5.35 7.7

He : 40 LPM O2 : NIL P: 650 watts D: 0.13

0.4 0.5 1.1 1.5 2. 4

5 min 10 min 15 min 20 min 25 min 30 min

Helium Plasma in absence of oxygen

25

37

Effect of Duration of Treatment in Presence of O2

Height of capillary rise (cm) wicking time C Treatment time (sec) 14 20 25 37 5 min 0.4 1.1 1.6 2 2.65 10 min 0.9 2.2 2.9 3.7 3.8 15 min 1.4 3.3 3.7 4.7 5 20 min 1.7 4.3 4.6 5.65 5.8 25 min 2.1 5 5.3 6.15 6.4 30 min 2.4 5.85 5.9 6.6 7.5

He : 40 LPM O2 : 0.15 LPM P: 650 w D: 0.13

effect of treatment time on capilary rise

Height of Capilary Rise (cm 8 7 6 5 4 20 min 3 2 1 0 C 14 20 treatment time (sec) 25 37 25 min 30 min 5 min 10 min 15 min

Helium Plasma in presence of oxygen

Effect of Gas Concentration

Height of capillary rise (cm) wicking time 13 He flow rate LPM 22 30 40 50 60 5 min 0.65 1.5 2 1.4 1.2 0.7
effect f
ise (cm)
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10 15 20 25 30 0 13 22 31 40 52 60

10 min 1.9 2.4 3.5 2.6 2.1 1.4

l

15 min 2.4 3.4 4.45 3.65 2.9 2.3

te

20 min 3.15 3.8 5.15 4.4 3.3 3.1

25 min 3.7 4.2 5.6 5 4.45 3.5

30 min 4.1 4.6 6.15 5.5 4.9 4

P: 650 w O2 : NIL D: 0.13 T:25 sec

ei

Gas l

a te (

     
i i i i i

t f apilar

He plasma in absence of oxygen

Effect of Gas Concentration with Oxygen

Height of capillary rise(cm) wicking time 30 He flow rate LPM 40 50 60 5 min 2 2.4 2.7 2.45 10 min 2.9 3.4 3.8 3.35 15 min 3.6 4.3 4.9 4.4 20 min 4.1 5.1 5.5 4.9 25 min 4.5 5.7 6 5.45
e ec
7 a y R se c

30 min 4.9 6.3 6.5 5.8

Gas

P: 650 w D: 0.12 T:25 sec O2 : 0.15 LPM

Ra e

Helium Plasma in presence of oxygen

5 4 3 2 1

10 15 20 25 30

He

0 35 40
Gas Ra e

52

60

 

! " ! " ! " ! " ! " !

Ca

"

n n n n n n

 

Effect of Distance between Substrate and Electrode

Height of capillary rise (cm) wicking time 0.10 Electrode distance (inch) 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 5 min 2.5 2.1 1.2 0.9 0.8 0.7 10 min 3.6 3.1 2.2 1.85 1.7 1.4 15 min 4.5 3.8 3 2.6 2.4 2 20 min 5.5 4.4 3.7 3.4 3.3 2.6 25 min 6.2 5 4.3 4.1 4 3.1 30 min 6.6 5.7 4.9 4.7 4.6 3.8

effect of Electrode distance

P: 600 W He: 40 T: 25 sec

Height of apilary Rise (cm)

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0.10 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15 Electrode istance (inch) 5 min 10 min 15 min 20 min 25 min 30 min

Effect of Electrode Spacing

Height of capillary rise(cm) wicking time Electrode distance (inch) 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 5 min 3.1 2.6 2.2 2 10 min 4.4 3.7 3.3 2.6 15 min 5.3 4.5 4.3 3.6 20 min 5.9 5.15 4.9 4.25 25 min 6.5 5.55 5.4 4.7 30 min 6.95 5.9 5.7 5.1

effect of Electrode distance

P: 600 W
Height of Capilary Rise (cm) 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 Electrode Distance (inch)

O2 : 0.15 LPM
5 min 10 min 15 min 20 min 25 min 30 min

P: 600

Helium Plasma in presence of oxygen

Gas composition and Power Applied

with e iu with e iu on and gen

wicking height (cm

4 3 2 1 0 400 500 powe applie 600 wa s 700

Gas composition and Duration of Treatment

i h eliu i h eliu 3 icking hei ht cm) 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 14 20 25 37 time o treatment sec onl and O gen

Gas composition and electrode spacing

with Helium only with Helium and Oxygen wicking height (cm) 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 electrode distance) inch)

Concluding Remarks
Plasma treatment can modify the textile surface to impart the hydrophilic properties Increase in duration of treatment and intensity of Plasma led to more hydrophilicity Increase in Gas flow rate showed initially increase in hydrophilicity and then decrease At given applied power (Intensity), the increase in electrode spacing has negative effect on hydrophilicity Addition of little amount of oxygen has significant effect on the hydrophilic properties