Atmospheric Plasma Effect on Cotton Nonwovens

The possibility of using atmospheric pressure plasma treatment (APT) without any additional functionalizing chemicals as an environmentally friendly technique for processing cotton nonwovens has been investigated. The quantitative determination of waxes suggested that APT results in the removal of waxes from cotton nonwovens and consequently increases its hydrophilicity. Fourier transform infrared studies showed that APT was capable of removing wax covering individual layers of cotton fibers. Intense plasma treatment causes a decrease in the strength of cotton nonwovens. Results show that APT can be a viable alternative for caustic soda treatment for dewaxing cotton.