Life cycle and environment impact for textile materials functionalized by using plasma technology

Abstract

This paper presents life cycle concept adapted to plasma processes used for textile industry. Because environmental policy is a major issue for all industrialized countries the role of life cycle assessment knows a major impact in developing and promoting new technologies. For this purpose — identify the environmental impact of plasma nanotechnology, is important to have data about life cycle cost analyze, life cycle based on waste and energy analysis. In developing industrial usage of plasma for textile industry is important to focus on carbon footprint and water footprint [1]. Comparatively with common finishing process, by using plasma technology it can be used a dry technology which conduct to decreasing water footprint because in second case doesn't result residual waters with harmful chemical substances. The plasma technology can produce hydrophilic or hydrophobic effect in textile structure, increasing or decreasing wettability by using low temperature in surface activation. Because treatment in plasma, for textile, involves low temperature and classical wet finishing process involve high temperature this is reflecting in a low carbon footprint [1]. The wet finishing process used in textile industry involves the use of toxic and poorly biodegradable compounds. The introducing of rigorous ecological legislation, because green environment is a critical concern for all countries, conduct to improvement of enterprises behaviour, by improving the technology and to producing safety products not only from economical point but from ecological reason [1]. Also by the reducing the wet processing time and decreasing the required wet processing temperature may save limited energy resources [2]. Plasma treatment has superior and environmentally friendly effects and is promising future treatment in the textile industry. By using plasma nanotechnology it is occurring physical modifications — including surface etching, chain scission and chemical modifications such as cross-linking, grafting and polymerization, which lead to beneficial changes in the properties of textiles. In our work was study the plasma treatment on natural and artificial polymeric substrates includes wettability enhancement by plasma treatment in oxygen, hydrophobicity increment by the use of fluorocarbon, antishrinkage finishing by oxygen gas, desizing in oxygen plasma, adhesion enhancement by the use of air, oxygen plasma.