Atmospheric pressure plasma jet treatment of Malaysian batik fabrics

Atmospheric pressure plasma jet became very popular in plasma chemistry due to its properties which are applicable for surface treatment. In this work, a low-cost and in-house atmospheric pressure plasma jet using argon gas, neon transformer power supply and quartz tube has been developed. The atmospheric pressure plasma jet system can be used for textile applications. The low temperature of plasma treatment is environmentally friendly technology which has been proposed to change the topographical properties of the textile surface, besides its popularity that can be used to improve the surface wettability and dying properties of the textiles. Malaysian batik fabric has been used in this work to study the treatment effect of plasma jet on fabrics. Contact angle measurement is used to observe the water contact angle and absorption time under various treatment conditions. Results show that the fabric surface became hydrophilic just after the treatment of plasma jet. The water absorption time became faster when exposed to longer treatment time and higher flow rate of argon flow. This understanding is essential to optimize the usage of atmospheric pressure plasma jet for textile treatment and modification.