Study On Application Of DBD To Surface Modification Of Soybean Fibers And Its Products

The modification technology of textile by low temperature plasmas (LTP) has been developed greatly in past decades. However, the previous researches were performed in vacuum systems. So it is very hard and expensive to industrialize this technology. The surface modification technology of textile materials with traditional atmospheric pressure plasmas also has some problems, such as homogeneity. The equipment that works under atmosphere condition can get well-distributed discharge.As we all know, the soybean fiber as the only chemical fiber developed by Chinese researchers has many fine performances such as its fineness, specific weight, luster and so on. But because of its lower surface frictional coefficient, the soybean yarns have much hairiness and the soybean fabrics have serious fuzzing and pilling problems.In this paper, the modifications of soybean fibers, yarns and fabrics by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasmas are studied. By comparing the properties of the treated and untreated fibers, yarns and fabrics the conclusions were drawn as followings:l.DBD treatment can improve the surface property of soybean fiber obviously; the surface frictional coefficients between soybean fibers and other materials increased greatly after treatment while the strength and elongation properties of the fiber are maintained.2. To a certain extent, the cohesion forces of the treated roves are improved.3.The cohesion forces of the treated roves increase with more soybean content in the roves, bigger twists of the roves, higher discharge power and longer exposure time.4.The hairiness of soybean yarn made of treated roves decreasesgreatly with longer exposure time.5.The fuzzing and pilling performances of soybean fabrics are improved obviously whereas the wrinkle resistance, surface characters and fabric handlings are improved slightly after DBD treatment.6. The longer the exposure time is and the higher the power is, the better the effects will be.In a word, the DBD treatment can improve the surface properties of the soybean fibers, the hairiness of yarns and the fuzzing and pilling of fabrics effectively. At the same time other properties of the bulk are not influenced basically, which are the advantages compared with other traditional chemical treatments. In addition, the DBD technology is cheap and non-pollution and the equipment can work continuously under atmosphere condition. So the application of DBD to surface modification of fibers has a fine prospect in industry.