By: G. Buyle
Compared with current standard finishing processes, plasmas have the crucial advantage of reducing the usage of chemicals, water and energy. Moreover, they offer the possibility to obtain typical textile finishes without changing the key textile properties. No wonder there is an increasing interest in plasma for textile materials processing. This overview consists of four parts: introduction to plasma; plasma interactions with textile materials and potential applications; evaluation of the current level of industrialisation; and conclusions. Despite ongoing efforts to integrate plasma treatments in the textile world, important hurdles for industrialisation still exist. Key issues are surface cleanliness, the three-dimensional structure and the large surface area (because of the individual fibres). Since the first adaptors are appearing from the textile side and plasma equipment manufacturers are showing an increasing interest in the textile market, it seems fair to state that a wider use of plasma technology for textile applications is nascent
Originally published in New Cloth Market: December 2009
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