FABRIC & GARMENT FINISHING

PLASMA TREATMENT- Solving Many Practical Problems

SUBMITTED BY:
RAJEEV SHARAN DFT (AP-06)

FACULTY INCHARGE:
Mr. VASSANT KOTHARI

Competitive Market

Environmental Consideration

Ever-changing Customer Demands

Enormous Challenges

Value Addition

Cost Reduction

OBJECTIVE OF FINISHING
Impart desirable functional and aesthetical functional characteristics to textiles and garments.

Challenging Operation Has several problems.

PROBLEMS OF FINISHING

High Water Consumption

High Energy Consumption

Increased Cost Production

High Chemical Consumption Environmental Pollution

PROBLEMS OF CONVENTIONAL WET PROCESSING

Large Water Consumption

Excess Chemicals Used

Heat Energy

Post-operational Drying
Energy Intensive Expensive Process

PLASMA- INTRODUCTION

PLASMA- INTRODUCTION
Considered as fourth state of matter.
Ionized Gas Mixture of excited ions, molecules, electrons, neutrons, photons and free radicals. Highly reactive species.

Collection of nearly an equal number of positive & negative charges which act collectively on the fabric surface
Complex reaction with fabric surface.

Color- ranging from blue-white to dark purple.

Depends on the type of gas used.

PLASMA- INTRODUCTION
Also known as discharge. Identified by Sir William Crookes- 1879. Term coined by Irving Langmuir- 1929. Initially used in micro-electronics & PCB Industries. Use for various finishing operations- 1980.

DIFFERENT PROCESSES OF PLASMA TREATMENT

Adsorption Desorption Etching Cleaning Surface activation Cross linking Deposition of a thin coating

PROCESS PARAMETERS
Type of gas Discharge power Treatment time Gas pressure Supply frequency

By varying parameters we can obtain different finishes. Changes the surface properties not the bulk properties of material.

IONIZATION OF GASES

IONIZATION OF GASES
Produced by ionizing a gas mixture by applying an electromagnetic field.
Temperature and density gradients

Consist identical molecules

small compared to the average space between them. Incompressible. Constant random motion. Collide with each other and transfer energy through such collisions.

COLLISION OF MOLECULES
About 109 collisions per second
At atmospheric pressure and room temperature.

At ionization potential
Gas conduct electricity

Ionization Potential
Energy required to remove a single electron from a molecule or atom Factors deciding ionization potential
Type of gas Pressure Flow rate The gap between electrodes

Breakdown voltage Voltage at which electron is removed from a molecule

PRODUCTION SYSTEM OF PLASMA

PRODUCTION SYSTEM
Objective
To generate specific reactive species from relatively inert feed gas

Ionization of gases at low or atmospheric pressure in the Plasma Reactors.

Two electrodes (separated by a gap less than 10 mm and filled with gas) Low or high voltage (220V -20 KV) Low or high frequency electromagnetic field (50 Hz- 2.45 GHz)
HIGH FREQUENCY VOLTAGE BREAK DOWN OF GAS IONIZED GAS

TYPES OF POWER SUPPLY

Low frequency (LF, 50-450 KHz) Radio Frequency (RF, 13.56 or 27.12MHz) Microwave (MW, 915MHz or 2.45 GHz) Power Requirement: 10-5000 watts
Depending Factors
Size of the reactor Desired treatment

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PLASMA

TYPES OF PLASMA
PLASMA

Low Pressure Plasma

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma

Corona Discharge (CD)

Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD)

Atmospheric Pressure Glow Discharge (APGD)

TYPES OF PLASMA ACCORDING TO TEMPERATURE OF PLASMA

COLD PLASMA (room temperature)

HOT PLASMA (1000-10000K)

TYPES OF GASES USED

Inert gases Reactive & nonpolymerisable gases Reactive & nonpolymerisable gases

Helium Argon

Nitrogen Ammonia

Tetrafluoroethylene Hexamethyldisiloxane

LOW PRESSURE PLASMA

LOW PRESSURE PLASMA

Oldest types of cold plasma Produced in a vacuum vessel having reduced pressure (10-2 to 10-3 mbar)
For radio frequency pressure is at 0.1 mbar For microwave range pressure is kept at 0.5-1.0 mbar. created by vacuum pump

Power supply
High voltage (0.4- 0.8 KV) High frequency electromagnetic field (40 KHz- 2.45 GHz)

LOW PRESSURE PLASMA

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

ACCURATE & RELIABLE

MORE ENERGY CONSUMPTION

UNIFORM, & FLEXIBLE

BATCH MODE OPERATIONS

CONTROLLABLE

LESS CONSUMPTION OF CHEMICALS

CORONA DISCHARGE (CD)

CORONA DISCHARGE (CD)

Weekly ionized gas
Less free electron density- 108 electrons/cm3 Free electron temperature- excess of 100000 K.

Produced at atmospheric pressure. Do not require vacuum. Density drops off rapidly with distance from the point of generation so requires a very small gap between electrodes (less than 1mm).

CORONA DISCHARGE (CD) SYSTEM

Highly asymmetric opposing electrodes. Geometry of electrode
Sharply pointed needle or Wire opposed by flat plane or Large diameter cylinder

Power supply
Continuous or pulsed DC or AC voltage (15KV) Frequency: 20-40 KHz

Discharge
Fountain like spray Narrow

Residence time
Too short for commercial operations

CORONA DISCHARGE (CD)- Application Of Finishing

Effective with loose fibers. Cannot penetrate deeply into yarn and fabric. Advantages
Wider width Higher production speed Low power consumption Can be continuously operated at atmospheric pressure.

Disadvantages
Limited application Non uniform Short lived

DIELECTRIC BARRIER DISCHARGE (DBD)

DIELECTRIC BARRIER DISCHARGE (DBD)

Higher free electron density than CD
1010 electrons/cm3 Temperature- 2000-5000 K

Produces numerous random micro discharge

Not uniform Uneven treatment

DIELECTRIC BARRIER DISCHARGE (DBD)- PRODUCTION SYSTEM

Electrodes
Symmetrical Covered with dielectric material (such as ceramic or glass)
Prevents the uneven discharge Helps to spread over the large area

Power supply
Voltage- 1-20 KV Frequency- 1-100KHz

ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE GLOW DISCHARGE (APGD)

ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE GLOW DISCHARGE (APGD)

Cold plasma Denser
10111012 electrons/cm3 Temperature- 10000-20000 K

Bright Uniform Homogeneous Stable

ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE GLOW DISCHARGE (APGD)- PRODUCTION SYSTEM

Electrode
Symmetrical plane or curved Bare metals Not covered with dielectric materials

Power supply
Voltage- range of 200V Frequency
High Very high Radio frequency (2-60 MHz)

FINISHING OPERATION

BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF PLASMA TECHNOLOGY FOR FINISHING

Cool processing Temperature below than 50 C Wider machines Upto 5 m High throughput rate Arround 20 m per minute

EFFECTS OF GAS PLASMA

Argon Increased surface roughness Oxygen Improves wettability fluorocarbons Improves water repellency Ammonia, carbon di-oxide Modifies surface chemical groups

CELLULOSIC BASE MATERIAL

PLASMA TREATMENT OF CELLULOSIC BASE MATERIAL

APGD (low pressure) & corona discharge (atmospheric pressure)
Wettability Dye- ability Water repellency Surface resistivity

Air, oxygen and argon treatment (low pressure)

Moisture absorbency Dye uptake wicking rate Breaking strength Crease resistance

PLASMA TREATMENT OF CELLULOSIC BASE MATERIAL

Hexamethyl disiloxane
Water repellency Smooth surface

Corona treatment of air and oxygen plasma

Frictional values Dye uptake wicking rate Breaking strength

Plasma containing phosphorous and halogen compounds

Flame retardancy

PLASMA TREATMENT OF CELLULOSIC BASE MATERIAL

Air-oxygen-helium atmospheric plasma treatment
Removal PVA Increased PDR by cold water washing

Non-polymerisable(oxygen) plasma
Scouring (improved by 50%)

Plasma-induced graft polymerisation

Special finishes
Flame retardancy, moisture absorption, and mechanical proerties.

WOOL BASE MATERIAL

PLASMA TREATMENT OF WOOL

Air or oxygen-helium plasma treatment (low or atmospheric pressure)
wettability Strength Shrinkage resistance Anti-felting Dye-ability

Plasma treatment followed by silicone treatment

Dimensional stability Wrinkle resistance

Plasma treatment followed by biopolymer chitosan treatment

Shrink resistance

SILK BASE MATERIAL

PLASMA TREATMENT OF SILK

Tetramethyl disiloxane, oxygen plasma
Dye absorption Flame resistance Wrinkle recovery

Low temperature plasma treatment

Bio-compatibility

Fluorinating plasma treatment

Water repellancy

SYNTHETIC MATERIAL

MAIN AIM
Improve
Hydrophilicity Dye-ability Anti-static properties printability

PLASMA TREATMENT OF POLYPROPYLENE (HYDROPHOBIC FIBRES)

air, oxygen, nitrogen and ammonia plasma (low or atmospheric pressure)
Wettability Antistatic and adhesive properties

PLASMA TREATMENT OF HIGH PERFORMANCE FIBRE

Hexafluoroethane / hydrogen plasma treatment
Diffusion barrier on surface Reduced hydrolysis tendency

PLASMA TREATMENT OF POLYESTER

Radio frequency air plasma treatment
Reduced surface resistance Increased moisture content

CONCLUSION

ADVANTAGES OF PLASMA TREATMENT

Versatile Flexible Fast Gentle Energy efficient Economical Environment friendly

DISADVANTAGES & CHALLENGES OF PLASMA TREATMENT

Deep knowledge of physical & chemical characteristics is essential. High investment cost Long payback period Slow developments of suitable industrial plasma systems
Less public transparency

CONCLUSION

Due to emerging trends of nano-technology & ecofriendly products, plasma technology will become popular and occupy a prominent space in the apparel & textile industry.

REFERENCE

Plasma finishing of textiles helps to solve many practical problems

By P. Muguntharajan and R. Saminathan THE TEXTILE MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2009