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A helium-argon plasma could turn out to be an environmentally friendlier way to process polyester textile fibers than currently used wet chemical methods, according to a research team led by Guido Viscardi of Italy's University of Torino (ChemSusChem, DOI: 10.1002/cssc.200900288). Some 39 million metric tons of polyethylene terephthalate fibers are produced annually by the textile industry and used to make clothes, carpeting, and other goods, the researchers note. Pristine PET fibers are smooth and hydrophobic, however, leaving them with poor wettability, adhesion properties, and printability. A way around this problem is chemically treating the fibers with acids, bases, or certain solvents to roughen the surface and create reactive sites to increase the fibers' affinity for water. But the treatment can work too well and damage fibers. Plus it uses a lot of water, generates chemical waste, and requires energy for an extra drying step. Viscardi’s group hit on the idea of trying a low-temperature atmospheric pressure glow-discharge plasma instead, a cleaning technique used extensively in semiconductor processing. After some trial and error, the researchers found He/Ar or He/O2 plasmas provide results on par with chemical treatments of woven PET fabric in a roll-to-roll system.
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