548
M. Singh et al.
of bacteria which ultimately lead to breaking of membrane and killing of the organism. The percentage reduction of bacteria for plasma-treated and ZnO nanoparticle
deposited cotton fabric was 100% compared to untreated and ZnO nanoparticlecoated samples, and antimicrobial property sustained even after 30 washing cycles
with no visible growth of bacteria (Shahidi 2018).
There has been a rigorous attempt in the field of textile engineering to improve the
characteristics of synthetic fibres to imitate natural ones. Synthetic fabrics although
have various advantages like low prices, more strength and elasticity but they lack
basic properties essential for a clothing application like hydrophilicity, dye adhesion
and capillary action. Plasma treatment thus is used to modify the surface of the
fibres and keeping bulk properties intact. Although low-pressure RF plasma sources
provide greater stability and uniformity, they are much difficult to handle than corona
discharges and dielectric barrier discharges due to complex handling of vacuum
systems (Ili´ c et al. 2009; Radeti´ c et al. 2008; Rezaei 2016).
A study was carried out by Rezaei et al. to optimise the percent nano-adhesion
of ZnO nanoparticles on nylon fabric after corona treatment to improve antibacterial
resistance and dyeing properties. It was easily illustrated from the results that wettability of the fabric increased with increasing the power and numbers of passages
which can be attributed to an increase in surface area of the sample along with imbibing various hydrophilic functional groups like COOH or OH. The SEM investigation
showed corona treatment helped in etching the surface as well as creating holes which
makes any particles to adhere to the surface easily like dyes or nanoparticles. Corona
pretreated fabric when imbued with nano-zinc filled the empty holes and stuck to the
surface. The antibacterial results showed a 96% reduction for S. aureus and 100%
reduction for E. coli (Rezaei 2016).
Radetic et al. studied the possibility of using a corona treatment on polyamide
and polyester fabrics to facilitate the loading of silver nanoparticles on the activated
surface. Despite wide applications of these synthetic fabrics like polyester (PES)
and polyamide (PA), their hydrophobic nature and low surface energy act as a barrier
between the surface and different coatings. However, corona treatment and plasma
treatment can act as a means of overcoming this difficulty due to enabling oxidation of fibre surface and formation of new functional groups like COOH or OH.
The hydrophilicity induced by corona treatment gave a sharp decrease in the contact
angle of a water droplet from 86° to 56° for polyester, while a small decrease was
observed in polyamide fabric from 83° to 76°. SEM studies also showed that corona
treatment roughened the surface with an increased and uniform surface area. Corona
induced morphological changes in the form of fibre etching as a consequence of
the severe bombardment of ions and energetic particles. SEM analysis clearly indicated a remarkable increase in number and uniformity of attached colloidal AgNPs
on untreated and silver-loaded fabrics. The increase in hydrophilicity, as well as
chemical and physical changes on the fabric surface, influences the binding ability
of water-based colloidal silver nanoparticles. The XPS spectra also showed a considerable increase in O/C ration. C18 spectra result clearly indicated a significant
increase in the content of C = O and O–C = O groups on PES surface, whereas the
C–N and C–O groups were almost doubled in PA fabric with a visible decrease in
M. Singh et al.
of bacteria which ultimately lead to breaking of membrane and killing of the organism. The percentage reduction of bacteria for plasma-treated and ZnO nanoparticle
deposited cotton fabric was 100% compared to untreated and ZnO nanoparticlecoated samples, and antimicrobial property sustained even after 30 washing cycles
with no visible growth of bacteria (Shahidi 2018).
There has been a rigorous attempt in the field of textile engineering to improve the
characteristics of synthetic fibres to imitate natural ones. Synthetic fabrics although
have various advantages like low prices, more strength and elasticity but they lack
basic properties essential for a clothing application like hydrophilicity, dye adhesion
and capillary action. Plasma treatment thus is used to modify the surface of the
fibres and keeping bulk properties intact. Although low-pressure RF plasma sources
provide greater stability and uniformity, they are much difficult to handle than corona
discharges and dielectric barrier discharges due to complex handling of vacuum
systems (Ili´ c et al. 2009; Radeti´ c et al. 2008; Rezaei 2016).
A study was carried out by Rezaei et al. to optimise the percent nano-adhesion
of ZnO nanoparticles on nylon fabric after corona treatment to improve antibacterial
resistance and dyeing properties. It was easily illustrated from the results that wettability of the fabric increased with increasing the power and numbers of passages
which can be attributed to an increase in surface area of the sample along with imbibing various hydrophilic functional groups like COOH or OH. The SEM investigation
showed corona treatment helped in etching the surface as well as creating holes which
makes any particles to adhere to the surface easily like dyes or nanoparticles. Corona
pretreated fabric when imbued with nano-zinc filled the empty holes and stuck to the
surface. The antibacterial results showed a 96% reduction for S. aureus and 100%
reduction for E. coli (Rezaei 2016).
Radetic et al. studied the possibility of using a corona treatment on polyamide
and polyester fabrics to facilitate the loading of silver nanoparticles on the activated
surface. Despite wide applications of these synthetic fabrics like polyester (PES)
and polyamide (PA), their hydrophobic nature and low surface energy act as a barrier
between the surface and different coatings. However, corona treatment and plasma
treatment can act as a means of overcoming this difficulty due to enabling oxidation of fibre surface and formation of new functional groups like COOH or OH.
The hydrophilicity induced by corona treatment gave a sharp decrease in the contact
angle of a water droplet from 86° to 56° for polyester, while a small decrease was
observed in polyamide fabric from 83° to 76°. SEM studies also showed that corona
treatment roughened the surface with an increased and uniform surface area. Corona
induced morphological changes in the form of fibre etching as a consequence of
the severe bombardment of ions and energetic particles. SEM analysis clearly indicated a remarkable increase in number and uniformity of attached colloidal AgNPs
on untreated and silver-loaded fabrics. The increase in hydrophilicity, as well as
chemical and physical changes on the fabric surface, influences the binding ability
of water-based colloidal silver nanoparticles. The XPS spectra also showed a considerable increase in O/C ration. C18 spectra result clearly indicated a significant
increase in the content of C = O and O–C = O groups on PES surface, whereas the
C–N and C–O groups were almost doubled in PA fabric with a visible decrease in