Surface modification of fibres using bipolar pulsed driven DBD plasma based KrCl* and XeI* exciplex sources

This work demonstrates the application of DBD plasma-based exciplex UV technology for surface modification of natural fibres. KrCl* (222 nm) and XeI* (253 nm) exciplex lamps have been developed and characterized in terms of the applied voltage, applied frequency, gas pressure, and absolute UV light intensity. The measured radiated intensities are 2.45 mW/cm² and 1.91 mW/cm² for 222 nm and 253 nm exciplex lamps, respectively. The change in physicochemical properties such as tensile strength, weight loss, wettability, surface morphology, and chemical composition, are evaluated using different characterization techniques ̶ like Contact Angle Goniometry, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, etc. The results are compared with untreated fibres to see the effect of different doses of UV₂₂₂ and UV₂₅₃ on the different properties of fibres. It is inferred that the exciplex UV₂₂₂ treated fibres have a higher concentration of different polar groups (− OH, − COOH, etc.). Much improvement in the dyebath ability of the natural fibre is achieved using a 222 nm exciplex light source, which reduces the dye concentration in the textile effluents and improves the dye adhesion to the fibre. It has been found that the fibre's hydrophilicity and dye bath capabilities have improved significantly.