Author(s):

Archana Bahuguna and Dr. Shailaja D Naik

Abstract: Cotton is a pure cellulosic fabric inherently hydrophilic, thus provides maximum comfort to the wearer. But, high moisture content of this natural fibre possesses low resistance to staining and micro-organism attack. Hence, there is an urge for suitable eco-friendly finish that could modify cotton into hydrophobic fabric. Plasma is the innovative technology introduced for textile industries that offers several advantages over conventional wet processing. Plasma is a dry finishing technique and is an effective means to reduce the use of chemicals, water and energy which eliminates the recurring expenses incurred on textile effluent treatments. The plain woven bleached cotton fabric was treated with helium plasma along with a monomer, hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) which modified the surface morphology of the substrate thus, converting the hydrophilicity of cotton into hydrophobicity without hampering its useful inherent properties. Results of the study revealed that, stiffness and abrasion resistance of treated fabric decreases with increase in resiliency. On subsequent washes there was further increase in resiliency, decrease in abrasion resistance whereas stiffness remains same. Laundering also affect the hydrophobicity to some extent, but the plasma treated cotton fabric did not revert back to hydrophilicity.

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