Nitrogen plasma treated cotton fabrics coated with SiO2 followed by RGO deposition for water purification process

Abstract

Experimental investigations have been carried out to modify the surface properties of Cotton fabrics using low temperature DC glow discharge nitrogen plasma. Plasma treatment is an eco-friendly, dry and clean process over wet chemical methods and does not suffer from any environmental and health concerns [1]. The important plasma parameters such as power and working pressure are kept constant with various treatment times (5, 15, 30, and 60 mins). The plasma-treated cotton fabrics are optimized by XRD, FTIR, and SEM. A comparative study has been done for the untreated and different treated fibers. Pure SiO2 is coated on untreated and nitrogen plasma treated cotton fabrics by sputtering method. The samples are coated for different sputtering times (10 and 30 min). Finally, Reduced Graphene Oxide (RGO) is coated on plasma treated SiO2 deposited fabrics. RGO is prepared by modified hummers methods [2]. Our results provide a way to develop a filter for water purification.