TEKSTİL ve KONFEKSİYON 1/2009 45

(REFEREED RESEARCH)

IMPROVEMENT SURFACE PROPERTIES OF 

POLYPROPYLENE AND POLYESTER FABRICS BY GLOW 

DISCHARGE PLASMA SYSTEM UNDER ATMOSPHERIC 

CONDITION

ATMOSFERİK GLOW DEŞARJ PLAZMA SİSTEMİ İLE 

POLİPROPİLEN VE POLİESTER KUMAŞLARIN YÜZEY 

ÖZELLİKLERİNİN İYİLEŞTİRİLMESİ

Necla YAMAN

Uşak University,

Textile Engineering Departmen, Turkey

Esen ÖZDOGAN

Ege University, 

Textile Engineering Department, Turkey

İ.Cengiz KOCUM

Baskent University, 

Biomedical Engineering Department, 

Turkey

Hakan AYHAN

Mugla University, Faculty of Science 

and Art, Department of Chemistry, 

Turkey

Tülin ÖKTEM

Ege University,

Textile Engineering Departmen, Turkey

Necdet SEVENTEKIN

Ege University,

Textile Engineering Departmen, Turkey

necdet.seventekin@ege.edu.tr

ABSTRACT

In order to raise wettability and to improve soil release of polyester (PES) and polypropylene (PP) woven fabrics, atmospheric 

pressure plasma were applied. In this study, argon and air plasma were used for modification of PES and PP fabrics. The capillary 

method and contact angle measurements of plasma treated and untreated textile materials were applied to evaluate the improvement in 

water uptake of PES and PP fabrics. Chemical changes in the fabric surface after atmospheric plasma treatments were determine by 

Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and XPS. Their surface morphologies were evaluated by SEM.

Key Words: Atmospheric plasma, Polyester, Polypropylene, Fiber, Hydrophilicity

ÖZET

Atmosferik plasma işlemi uygulanmış poliester (PES) ve polipropilen (PP) dokuma kumaşların kir iticilik özelliği ve ıslanabilirliği 

incelenmiştir. Bu çalışmada, argon ve hava plazma PES ve PP kumaşların modifikasyonu için kullanılmıştır. PES ve PP kumaşların 

hidrofilliklerini değerlendirmek için, işlem görmemiş ve plazma işlemi görmüş materyallere kapilarite ve temas açısı ölçümleri 

uygulanmıştır. Plazma işlemi sonunda kumaş yüzeyinde meydana gelen kimyasal değişim Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and XPS 

ile belirlendi. Yüzey morfolojisi SEM ile değerlendirilmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Atmosferik plazma, Poliester, Polipropilen, Lif, Hidrofillik

Received: 03.03.2008 Accepted: 31.07.2008

1. INTRODUCTION

The concern in the textile industry over 

reduction of water consumption and 

waste-water treatment in all areas of 

fiber, yarn and fabric preparation has 

caused a continuous search for new 

non-aqueous treatment. The plasma 

treatment of textile materials has been 

utilized as a substitution for current wet 

treatment and pre-treatment 

processes. Plasma treatments have 

been proven effective for increasing 

particular surface properties of textile 

materials. The plasma can be 

produced when a gas at low pressure 

or atmospheric pressure is submitted 

to an electric field (1, 2). 

In plasma area, many phenomena can 

occur derived from the plasma/surface 

interacion of the material. One the 

main effects of the interaction between 

active chemical species due to the 

plasma colliding with a textile materials 

is the tearing away of molecules 

chains, the formation of new functional 

groups and morphological alterations, 

like the formation microporosity (3). 

The treatment gives rise to the 

formation of free radicals at the 

surface and further down in the textile 

materials which react with the excited 

species in the plasmas. The surface 

treatments also lead to a crosslinked 

skin propagated by recombination of 

polymer radicals. Chain scission takes 

place simultaneously with cross-linking 

and oxidation. Small molecule 

degradation products are constantly 

removed by evaporation and 

sputtering, while polymeric scission 

products remain intermeshed with 

undergraded polymers and crosslinked 

networks. The modified depth of 

polymeric materials thanks to plasma 

is between 50-500oA (4). 
46 TEKSTİL ve KONFEKSİYON 1/2009

Many studies have already been 

carried out with low pressure plasma, 

but atmospheric pressure plasma 

treatments would be ideal for the 

continuous processing of textile 

materials. It was previously believed 

that plasmas generated at atmospheric 

pressure are not uniform or stable; 

however a research on atmospheric 

plasma has shown their uniformity, 

stability and applicability to processing 

and treatment of textiles. Atmospheric 

plasma devices and treatments could 

be utilized for use in high-speed 

continuous processing operation, and 

when optimized, could replace or 

increase many current wet-chemical 

finishing processes (5, 6). 

In this study, PES and PP woven 

fabrics were modified by atmospheric 

pressure plasma treatment utilizing air 

and argon gases and their chemical 

and morphologic modifications were 

investigated. 

2. EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP

2.1. Materials 

In this study, 67 g/m2 PES and 145 

g/m2 PP plain woven fabrics were 

used. These fabrics extracted with 

acetone for 4 hours, thoroughly dried 

in air. Argon (purity of >99.99) and air 

(20.9% oxygene, 79.1% nitrogene and 

relative humidity < 3 ppm) as the 

process gases were purchased from 

BOS. Acetone, potassium bichromate, 

carbon black, liquide paraffin and CCl4

employed in this work were purchased 

from Merck Chemical Company. 

2.2. Atmospheric Pressure Plasma 

Treatment

For plasma treatment a laboratory 

scale atmospheric plasma reactor was 

utilised. The discharge is produced 

between four electrode (diameter = 17 

mm) couples. One of the electrodes in 

the couple is covered dielectric 

material, and the inter-electrode 

distance is set 2 mm (7). PES and PP 

fabrics were treated with a power 50, 

100 or 130 W and at different time 

intervals.

2.3. Material Characterization 

2.3.1. Hydrophilicity

In order to evaluate hydrophilicity of 

the original and treated PP and PES 

fabrics, capillary rise and contact angle 

measurements of each material were 

carried out. Capillary rise measurements

were made the method which was 

described in the Ref. 2. Capillary rise 

measurement was repeated eight 

times, and arithmetical mean was 

taken. Contact angle were measured 

by using a ganiometric system 

(Tampere University, in Finland); 

measurement was repeated ten times, 

and the arithmetical mean was taken.

2.3.2. Soil Resistance 

Carbon black has been generally used 

for soil preparations because of their 

light reflectance properties to simulate 

soil in a fabric artificially. In our study, 

the soiling behaviour of the fabrics was 

investigated according to the 

procedure described by Seventekin 

and Oktem et.al. (6). To present to 

soiling data, ΔE values of the fabrics 

were collected from the datacolor 

Instrument measurement results 

(Minolta 3600d model 

spectrophtometer, Turkey).

2.3.3 Chemical Characterisation

FTIR / ATR Analysis: (Fourier 

Transform Infrared Spectroscopy with 

Attenuated Total Internal Reflectance 

mode measurement) The Infrared (IR) 

spectra of fabrics were determined by 

means of a Perkin Elmer 100 FTIR 

spectrometer in ATR reflection mode 

using a Diamond/zinc selenide crystal. 

To ensure reproducible contact 

between the crystal faces and the 

fabric, a pressure of 50 kPa was 

applied to the crystal holder by means 

of a calibrated torque screw driver. An 

average of 15 scans using a resolution 

4 cm-1.

XPS Analysis: X-ray photoelectron 

spectroscopy was used to monitor the 

modifications produced in the 

outermost (5-10 nm) polyester and 

polypropylene fibres surfaces. In this 

study, the measurement depth was 7 

nm. The fabric samples were analysed 

using SPCS XPS system with a Mg K

X-ray source operated at 10 kV and 

200 W. The pressure inside analysis 

chamber was 10-8 to 10-9 torr. Survey 

scans were taken with a pass energy 

of 48 eV. The peak positions were 

corrected for charging relative to the 

C-C bond which was assigned a 

binding energy of 284.5 eV.

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

0 4 20 40 60 4 20 40 60 4 20 40 60

Exp. Time (s)

Capillarity (cm)

Argon Air

 50 W 100 W 130 W 

Figure 1. Capillary rise on PP fabric after plasma treatment at various power and times

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

0 4 20 40 60 4 20 40 60 4 20 40 60

Exp. Time (s)

Capillarity (cm)

Argon Air

 50 W 100 W 130 W 

Figure 2. Capillary rise of PES fabric after plasma treatment at various power and times
TEKSTİL ve KONFEKSİYON 1/2009 47

2.3.4. Morphology

The microstructure of PP and PES 

woven fabric before and after plasma 

were characterized by using SEM a 

Philips XL30S FEG microscope with 

digital microscopy imaging.

3. RESULTS 

3.1. Evaluation of Hydrophilicity

In this study, to improve the surface 

properties of PES and PP fabrics, 

argon and air plasma were carried out 

at atmospheric pressure. The surface 

properties were evaluated by 

measuring capillary rise and contact 

angle as a function of plasma 

treatment time, power and gases. The 

treatment time and power in both air 

and argon range between 4-60 s and 

50-130 W, respectively. Fig. 1 and 2 

show the warp direction capillary rise 

results as a function of exposure time 

and plasma power for PP and PES 

fabric, respectively. Table 1 shows 

contact angle results of PP and PES 

fabric after treatment in air and argon 

plasma. 

As shown in Table 1, the contact angle 

for the PP fabrics was found to change 

from 105.73o for the untreated sample 

to the lowest value 81,44o after 

treatment in both discharges, and 

capillary rise height increased, while 

contact angles decreased. Figures 2 

and Table 1 show that the plasma 

exposure leaded to similar changes in 

the PES fabric surfaces with respect to 

the contact angle: the contact angle 

decreases from 90, 22° for the 

untreated sample to 39, 23° after 

treatment in plasmas, and capillary 

rise height increased. Similar 

increases in wickability/capillarity were 

observed by Borcia et. al.(8). 

It is shown that the wettability is 

strongly enhanced by plasma 

treatment. When air and argon are 

used in the plasma state for a 

treatment time of 1–60 second, it 

incorporates hydrophilic groups such 

as —OH, C=O, C—O—O—, O―C=O 

etc., predominantly making the surface 

more hydrophilic. Capillary rise height 

increased unlike contact angles, but a 

little difference between two plasmas 

can be seen more clearly from 

capillarity and contact angle results. 

It is shown that air plasma is more 

efficient in implanting oxygen 

functionalities than argon plasma. In

air plasma, most of the created 

radicals at the polymer surface will 

quickly react with an oxygen particle, 

resulting in an efficient implantation of 

oxygen functionalities. In contrast, 

plasma treatment in argon leads to a 

cross-linking reaction in combination 

with surface oxidation. This 

crosslinking reaction inhibits the 

surface oxidation, resulting in a slower 

incorporation of oxygen functionalities. 

When PP and PES are treated in 

oxygen-containing argon plasma, the 

cross-linking and oxidation process

occurs in different steps, resulting 

eventually in an oxidized threedimensional cross-linked structure (9). 

However, the exact mechanism 

leading to this oxidized cross-linked 

structure is not yet described in detail.

3.2. Evaluation of Ageing

The most serious problem for plasma 

treatments is the durability of the 

treatment. The most probable reason 

for this has been considered to be 

“overthrough” or migration of the 

created polar groups into the textile 

materials (4). The lack of durability has 

been attributed largely to the surface 

rearrangement of macromoleculer 

segments which is truly physical but 

not due to the loss of chemical groups 

introduced by the surface treatment. 

Furthere more the aging seems to 

depend on the chemical nature of the 

substrate. To determine ageing 

properties of synthetic textile fabrics 

after plasma treatment, capillary rise 

measurement were fulfilled after seven, thirty and one hundred eighty

days for samples that were obtained 

maximum capillarity values (130 W-60 

s argon and air plasma). PP and PES 

fabric results are given Figure 3 and 4, 

respectively. 

As it is shown in the figures, although 

argon and air plasmas made the 

surfaces of the PES and PP fabrics 

hydrophilic, the hydrophilicity 

decreased with the ageing time, due to 

the rearrangement of hydrophilic 

functional groups formed by plasma 

treatments (10). Ageing for the air 

treated samples were higher than 

argon treated samples. When inert 

gases like argon were used for the 

treatment of polymer surface, ions and 

UV photons, present in the discharge, 

would break C―C or C―H bonds, 

leading to the production of carbon 

radicals. Many more radicals were 

formed or induced on the PES and PP 

Table 1. Contact angle values of PP and PES fabrics (C.A: Contact Angle, S.D. Std. Dev.)

PP Fabrics PES Fabrics

Argon Pls. Air Pls. Argon Pls. Air Pls.

Power (W) Time 

(sec) C.A () S. D. C.A () S. D. C.A () S. D. C.A () S. D.

0 0 105.7 2.47 105.7 2.47 90.22 3.06 90.22 3.06

4 96.24 2.31 98.98 2.54 74.95 3.26 75.66 3.41

20 91.02 2.3 91.32 2.45 71.67 3.2 73.94 3.12

40 87.7 1.97 91.13 2.43 70.54 3.35 73.14 3.27

50 

60 85.97 1.5 88.38 2.26 54.98 2.95 71.01 3.12

4 94.68 2.45 96.48 2.35 72.88 3.17 65.7 3.21

20 87.69 2.01 89.56 2.15 56.94 3.05 52.98 2.97

40 83.28 1.72 88.28 2.2 52.56 2.76 48.01 2.28

100 

60 82.41 1.47 85.2 1.95 51.9 2.46 47.86 1.92

4 93.94 2.25 94.04 2.26 70.43 2.85 55.02 3.03

20 83.69 1.96 88.74 2.13 49.91 2.5 47.34 2.65

40 82.08 1.5 84.24 1.96 48.56 2.56 41.12 2.15

130 

60 81.44 1.44 83.01 1.4 45.17 1.81 39.23 1.6
48 TEKSTİL ve KONFEKSİYON 1/2009

surface by argon and these radicals 

reacted with each other to form 

crosslinked layers, which would be 

expected to prevent the rearrangement 

of hydrophilic functional groups formed 

by plasma treatment (11). 

3.3. Evaluation of Soil Resistance

Soil release characteristics are 

especially important for the 

manufacturers and the end-users of 

the fabrics. Hydrophobic synthetic 

fibers attract soil to a greater extent 

than natural fibers because of the 

development of electrostatic charges 

on the surface (6). 

The ΔE values for the PP and PES 

fabrics modified by atmospheric argon 

and air plasmas are given Fig. 5 and 6, 

respectively. Soil release usually 

correlates with the hydrophilicity of the 

fabrics. Activating surfaces are to 

change their polarity. Polar surfaces 

are made more non-polar to render 

them repellent to liquids and reduce 

adhesion of soil particle, non-polar 

surfaces will be made more polar to 

improve water wetting and soil release 

properties (11). 

The relative color intensities of both 

PES and PP fabrics were increased 

thanks to air and argon plasma 

tretmant with increasing treatment time 

and power. 

3.4. Evaluation of Chemical 

Characterization

3.4.1 FTIR/ATR Analysis

Treated PP and PET fibres are 

measured by FTIR spectrometer in 

order to investigate what chemical 

changing happens at the surface of 

polymer. The infrared absorption 

spectras of untreated and plasmatreated PP and PES fabrics are shown 

in Figure 7 and 8, respectively.

In Figure 7, for the untreated 

polypropylen fibers, there are two 

strong absorption peaks. Peaks are 

assigned as follows: C–H vibration 

peak in the range of 1460–1470 cm-1, 

anti-symmetric/symmetric CH2 ve CH3 

peaks in the range of 2820-2950 cm-1. 

After the plasma treatments, some 

new absorption peaks were appeared 

in Figure 7: -OH stretching vibration 

3500-3200 cm-1, –COOH (carboxylic 

acid) absorption peak in the range of 

1700–1750 cm-1, C=C non-saturated 

double bond conjugated with COOabsorb peaks in the range 1630-1645 

cm-1 were appeared (12, 13). 

Functional groups could be generated 

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

Right Away One Week Later One Month Later Six Months Later

Ageing Time

Capillarity (cm)

untreated 130 W-60 s (Argon) 130 W-60 s (Air)

Figure 3. Ageing of plasma treated PP fabrics

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Right Away One Week Later One Month Later Six Months Later

Ageing Time

Capillarity (cm)

untreated 130 W-60 s (Argon) 130 W-60 s (Air)

Figure 4. Ageing of the plasma treated of PES fabrics

0

5

10

15

20

25

0 4 20 40 60 4 20 40 60 4 20 40 60

Exp. Time (s)

Soil Resistence (ΔE)

Argon Air

 50 W 100 W 130 W 

Figure 5. Soiling behaviour PP fabrics after atmospheric pressure plasma

0

5

10

15

20

25

0 4 20 40 60 4 20 40 60 4 20 40 60

Exp. Time (s)

Soil Resistance (ΔE)

Argon Air

 50 W 100 W 130 W 

Figure 6. Soiling behaviour PES fabrics after atmospheric pressure plasma treatment
TEKSTİL ve KONFEKSİYON 1/2009 49

of the fabric surface because intensity 

of the carbonyl and hydroxyl band 

increased (13). The functionalization of 

the surface of the fiber means a higher 

polarity leading to an increased 

hydrophilicity. 

As can be seen from Fig. 8, contrary to 

the new absorption peak appearance 

of plasma-treated PP fibre, no new 

absorption peak come up in the 

infrared absorption spectra of plasma 

treated PES compared to the 

untreated one. The peaks at the wave 

numbers, 1714, 1250, 1120, 1046 and 

726 cm-1 are specific for PES. The 

three peaks between 2970 and 2846 

cm-1 are the C–H sp3 vibration (14). 

The peak height at 1713 cm-1 due to 

C=O absorption shows a slight 

increase on plasma treatment.

3.4.2 XPS Analysis

The XPS show C (1s) and O (1s) 

peaks, which characterise the carbon 

and oxygen atomic composition in 

PES and PP fabrics. For more clarity, 

the chemical composition in terms of C 

(1s), O (1s) and N (1s) is given in 

Table 2 and Figure 9 and 10 as 

function of gases. From this it is clear 

that the plasma treatment has a 

significant influence on the PES and 

PP surface. 

When PES fabric was treated in air 

plasma for 60 s, a decrease in the C 

(1s) peak was observed (from 73.3 to 

63.3%). At the same time the O (1s) 

peak increased (from 26.6 to 35.2%). 

When PES fabric was treated in argon 

plasma for 60 s, a decrease in the C 

(1s) peak was observed (from 73.3 to 

64.8%). At the same time the O (1s) 

peak increased (from 26.6 to 34.1%). 

The O/C ratio of the untreated, argon 

and air plasma treated PES increases 

as follows, respectively: 0.363 < 

0.526<0.556. Increasing O/C atomic 

ratio means that oxygen-cantaining 

functional group amount increases. 

For the PP fabric, the O/C and N/C 

ratio of the untreated sample are 6.4 

and 0.2 %, respectively. This means 

that the untreated PP fabric appears to 

contain some contamination or more 

probably low-level surface oxidation. 

After plasma treatment in air and argon, the O/C atomic ratio increases to 

18.1 and 17.4 % for saturated 

samples, respectively. These 

increases in O/C ratio suggest that 

new oxygen-containing groups are 

formed on the fabric surface after 

treatment with an air or argon plasma. 

Furthermore, after plasma treatment, 

N/C atomic ratio increases a little 

because of nitrogen-containing 

functional groups or contamination.

3.5. Evaluation of Surface 

Morphology

It is known that plasma affects the 

polymer surface, especially the 

morphology. SEM images of the 

untreated, argon and air plasma 

treated PP and PES fibers are given 

Fig. 11 and 12, respectively. As seen 

in figures, surface morphology 

changes significantly after plasma 

treatment due to etching on the 

surfaces of the fiber. 

Figure 7. FTIR results of treated and untreated PP fabrics. a) Untreated, b) argon plasma 

treated c) air plasma treated

Figure 8. FTIR results of treated and untreated PES fabrics. a) Untreated, b) argon plasma 

treated c) air plasma treated 

Table 2. Chemical compositions of 130 W-60 s argon and130 W-60 s air plasma treated 

polyester and polypropylene fabrics

Elemental composition (%)

C O N

O/C ratio N/C ration

Polypropylene Sample

Untreated 93.8 6.0 0.2 0.064 0.002

Argon treated 84.0 15.2 0.7 0.181 0.008

Air treated 84.3 14.7 1.0 0.174 0.012

Polyester Sample

Untreated 73.3 26.6 0.4 0.363 0.006

Argon treated 64.8 34.1 1.1 0.526 0.017

Air treated 63.3 35.2 1.5 0.556 0.024
50 TEKSTİL ve KONFEKSİYON 1/2009

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) 

image was observed to comprehend 

the alteration of surface morphology of 

treated fabrics. The PP and PES fiber 

surfaces after argon and air plasma 

treatment are shown in Figures 11–12

with a magnification of 20.000. It can 

be seen that the surface-etching 

process occurs on the surface of argon 

and air plasma treated fiber.

Figure 11 (a) and 12 (a) demonstrates 

the SEM image of untreated PP and 

PES fiber, while Figures 11 (b), (c) and 

12 (b), c display the SEM images of 

plasma treated PP and PES fiber with 

argon and air gases, respectively. 

Figure 11 (a) and 12 (a) clearly 

demonstrate that the untreated fibers 

surface are smooth and free from 

roughness, indicating that no damage 

occurs on the fibers surface. However, 

in Figures 11 (b), (c) and 12 (b), (c) 

illustrate a change in the fiber surface 

morphology. For the PP fiber, when 

compared with the air plasma 

treatment, the argon plasma treatment 

is more effective on the fiber surface. 

For the PES fiber, when compared 

with the argon plasma treatment, the 

air plasma treatment has a more severe damage on the fiber surface. This is 

probably due to the comparatively slow 

rate of physical etching introduced by 

Figure 11. SEM images of PP Fabrics. a) Untreated b) Argon tretaed c) Air treated

Figure 12. SEM images of PES Fabrics. a) Untreated b) Argon Treated c) Air treated

5 5 0 5 0 0 4 5 0 4 0 0 3 5 0 3 0 0 2 5 0 2 0 0

0

5 0 0 0

1 0 0 0 0

1 5 0 0 0

2 0 0 0 0

2 5 0 0 0

3 0 0 0 0

2 8 9 2 8 8 2 8 7 2 8 6 2 8 5 2 8 4 2 8 3

Intensity (%)

53 5 534 53 3 532 531 53 0

B in ding E n ergy (eV )

C -H

C -O /C -N

 U ntrea ted

 A rgo n P lasm a 

 A ir P la sm a

Figure 9. XPS results of untreated and treated PP fabrics

5 5 0 5 0 0 4 5 0 4 0 0 3 5 0 3 0 0 2 5 0

0

5 0 0 0

1 0 0 0 0

1 5 0 0 0

2 0 0 0 0

2 5 0 0 0

3 0 0 0 0

Intensity (%)

B in d in g E n e rg y (e V )

U n tre a te d

 A rg o n p la s m a

A ir p la s m a

C -H

C -O

C -N

C O O

Figure 10. XPS results of untreated and treated PES fabrics

(a) (b) (c)

(a) (b) (c)
TEKSTİL ve KONFEKSİYON 1/2009 51

the argon plasma gas (15). Granules, 

microcraters, and ripple-like structures 

of submicrometer size are observed on 

the air plasma-treated surface (Fig. 11 

(c)) (16). In summary, plasma 

treatment with air gas is more efficient 

because air has oxygene molecules. It 

also signifies that a stronger porous 

surface effect is created on the air 

plasma-treated PES fibers.

4. CONCLUSION

In this paper, PP and PES fabrics were 

plasma-modified using a dielectric 

barrier discharge in air and argon at 

atmospheric pressure. The results 

showed that all of contact angle of PP 

and PES surfaces decreased, and 

their capillary rise height increased 

with plasma treatment, which means 

the surface hydrophilicity of all material 

surfaces have been improved.

Air plasma treatment was more 

effective in reducing the contact angle 

due to the fast reaction between 

created radicals at the polymer surface 

and oxygen species. In contrast, in 

argon, cross-linking competes with 

surface oxidation, resulting in lower 

modification efficiency. 

The modified surface was not stable 

with time, and undergoes 

rearrangement of the modified surface 

layers, leading to the incorporation of 

some of the functional groups within 

the surface layers. Therefore, to 

characterize and use these surfaces, 

their time-dependent nature has to be 

taken into account. 

Soil release usually correlates with the 

hydrophilicity of the fabrics. It can be 

roughly estimated that the better is the 

soil release, the better is the 

hydrophilicity of the fabrics. 

The XPS and ATR-FTIR results 

showed that the percentage of oxygen 

atom in these samples increases and it 

consisted with the contact angle 

measurement. Evaluating SEM results 

of PES and PP surface with their 

contact angle datas, it was found that 

the increasing of surface roughness in 

micron scale can also improve 

hydrophilicity, besides the contribution 

of the rising up of percentage of the 

oxygene atom.

Therefore, it can be concluded that 

atmospheric pressure cold plasma 

could be effectively and safely used to 

improve hydrophilicity of the polymeric 

substrates without incurring high cost 

or creating environmental pollution.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This study 

was funded by the TUBİTAK - Textile 

Research Center, İzmir-TURKEY.

REFERENCES

1. Shishoo R. (Ed.), 2007, Plasma Technologies For Textiles, Woodhead Publ., Cambridge, 352. 

2. Ferrero F., 2003, “Wettability Measurements on Plasma Treated Synthetic Fabrics by Capillary Rise Measurement”, Polymer Testing, 

Vol. 22, 571-578.

3. Costa T.H.C., Feitor M.C., Alves Jr. C., 2006, “Effects of Gas Composition During Plasma Modification of Polyester Fabrics”, Journal of 

Materials Processing Technology, Vol. 173, Issue 1, pp. 40-43. 

4. Arefi F., Andre V., Montazer-Rahmati P., 1992, “Plasma Polymerisation and Surface Treatment of Polymer, Pure & Appl. Chem, Vol. 

64, Issue 5, pp. 715-723.

5. Canup L.K., 2000, “Non Aqueous Treatment of Fabr›cs Utilizing Plasmas”, A Thesis Submitted to The Graduate Faculty of North 

Carolina State University, pp.108.

6. Oktem T., Ayhan H., Seventekin N., 1999, “Modification of Polyester Fabrics by in Situ Plasma or Post-Plasma Polymerization of Acrylic 

Acide”, JSDC, Vol.115, 274-279.

7. Koçum C., Ayhan H., 2007, “Design and Construction of Uniform Glow Discharge Plasma System Operating Under Atmospheric 

Condition”, Rewiev of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 78, pp. 063501-063501.5.

8. Borcia G., Anderson C. A, Brown N.M.D., 2003, “Dielectric Barrier Discharge for Surface Treatment: Application to Selected Polymers 

in Film and Fibre Form, Plasma Sources Science Technology”, Vol.12, 335-344

9. Kwon O.J., Tang S., Myung S.W., 2005, “Surface Characteristics of Polypropylene Film Treated by An Atmospheric Pressure Plasma”, 

Surface & Coatings Technology, Vol. 192, pp.1– 10

10. Krump H., Hudec I., Jaššo M., 2006, “Physical-Morpholgy and Chemical Changes Leading To An Increase In Adhesion Between 

Plasma Treated Polyester Fibres and a Rubber Matrix”, Applied Surface Science, Vol. 252, 4261-4278.

11. Tomasino C., Cuomo J., Vernon P., Radzimski Z., Salama M., Oehrlein G., Smith C., 1995, Plasma Treatment-Textiles, Annual Report 

1/9/94 to 30/6/95, NC State, p:7

12. N.V. Bhat, D.J. Upadhyay, 2002, “Plasma-Induced Surface Modification and Adhesion Enhancement of Polypropylene Surface”, J. 

Appl. Polym. Sci. Vol. 86, 925-936.

13. Muller M., Rieser T., Lunkwitz K., 1996, “An in-situ ATR-FTIR-Study on Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Assemblies on Solid Surfaces and 

Their Susceptibiliy to Fouling”, Macromol. Rapid Commun., Vol. 19, No. 7, 333-336.

14. N. Sakudo, D. Mizutani, Y. Ohmura, 2003, “Surface Modification of PET Film by Plasma-Based Ion Implantation”, Nucl. Instrum. 

Methods Phys. Res., B Beam Interact. Mater. Atoms, Vol. 206, pp. 687. 

15. Yuen C. W. M., Jiang S. Q., Kan C. W., 2007, “Effect of Low Temperature Plasma Treatment on the Electroless Nickel Plating of Polyester Fabric”, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol. 105, 2046–2053.

16. Qi K., Xin J.H., Daoud W.A., 2007, “Functionalizing Polyester Fiber with a Self-Cleaning Property Using Anatase TiO2 and LowTemperature Plasma Treatment”, Int. J. Appl. Ceram. Technol., Vol. 4, No. 6, pp. 554–563.

Bu araştırma, Bilim Kurulumuz tarafından incelendikten sonra, oylama ile saptanan iki hakemin görüşüne sunulmuştur. Her iki hakem 

yaptıkları incelemeler sonucunda araştırmanın bilimselliği ve sunumu olarak “Hakem Onaylı Araştırma” vasfıyla yayımlanabileceğine 

karar vermişlerdir.