| Plasma treatment only modifies the outmost thin layer of the surface, while the bulk properties will be kept untouched. The application of plasma technology can greatly reduce the consumption of water, steam, energy and chemicals. At the same time, less toxic substance or pollutions will be released during process. So the plasma technology offers the potential for simultaneous economic and environmental gains in the textile industries.The wool fabric was treated by low temperature glow discharge in the trials. The shrink-resist property of treated wool was researched firstly under different gas atmosphere, treating time, cabinet pressure and discharge power conditions. The shrinking area and friction coefficient were measured to evaluate the shrink-resist property of treated wool. The oxygen or nitrogen plasma treatment can decrease the fabric shrinkage. A better shrink-resist property was obtained with a longer plasma treating. But the excessive long treatment brought a reverse result. When the pressure increased, the shrink-resist property increased. If the pressure reached too higher, the shrink-resist property decreased. The shrink-resist property was greatest around 100W, the lower or higher power also resulted shrink-resist property decreasing.An individual plasma treatment cannot impart full machine washabilty. And plasma may bring a harsh handle to the wool fabric. In order to generate full machine washability, an additional polymer coating of the nitrogen plasma treated wool was selected. Protolan 367 revealed the best shrink-resist result among the 9 selected resins or softeners. It was also observed that fewer polymers were needed after plasma treatment.SEM photos of different conditions revealed the damage of scale structure of wool fabrics. The increase of time ant power brought stronger damage, but pressure represent less influence.Allworden result showed some damage in hydrophobic epicutical layer afterplasma treating. The XPS data also proved that the oxygen and nitrogen content were improved greatly after plasma treatment, and the polar groups, such as -OH, -COOR, -C=O or -NH2, were introduced into the surface. The existence of-SOx structure was caused by the breakage of S-S bond in surface layer. The following physical and chemical change can illustrate the anti-shrinkage performance of plasma treatment. Firstly, the water-resist epicutical layer was damaged. Secondly, the S-S bond breakage brought lots of ~SO3 groups in exocuticle layer. Then oxygen or nitrogen groups were introduced into the fiber surface. These changes not only made the surface hydrophilic, but also improve the water absorbency of inner layer. So the scale became softer and jelly-like. It was easier deformed under force. Then the friction coefficient increased. But the difference of friction coefficient decreased. So the shrink-resist property improved.Because the hydrophobic surface was damaged, and polar groups were introduced, the dyeability and printability were changed also. Improved dyeing behaviors were gotten after plasma treating even under lower dyeing temperature. The uptake and dyeing rate increased obviously.The increasing time resulted an increase of uptake and fixation at first. But a longer treatment time resulted in a decrease of dye behavior. When the pressure increased, the uptake and dyeing rate were increased too. But extremely higher pressure brought opposite result. An increasing power provides increase of dyeing behaviors, but stronger power decreased the dyeing behaviors. So the optimum condition is necessary during plasma treating.Different gas had different effect. Oxygen plasma emphasized particularly on etching effect, but the nitrogen plasma introduced more polar groups. So the nitrogen plasma treated wool had a more reactive characteristic.The plasma treating improved the printability also. The uptake or K/S values increased with increase of time, pressure and power. But excessive conditions brought reverse result.It can be summarized that plasma treatment can full...
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