Polypropylene fabric of durable hydrophilic character using plasma-mediated surface coating with keratin

Abstract

Polymeric hydrocarbons without functional groups, like polypropylene (PP), are hydrophobic in nature and have limited applications in textile and clothing fields. Due to its poor adhesive nature and high chemical barrier, PP is one of the most difficult polymeric materials to treat. In this investigation, an easy-to-apply eco-friendly method was adopted to impart certain desired properties and functions to PP fabric to make it suitable for clothing applications. PP surface was activated using N2-plasma discharge to create nitrogen-containing functional groups, making PP fabrics susceptible to bonding with keratin and anionic dyes. An eco-friendly biopolymer, namely, keratin, was applied to the plasma-pretreated PP fabrics using the pad-dry-cure or exhaustion method. Results of this investigation revealed that plasma/biopolymers-finished PP fabrics exhibited desirable properties, such as induced wettability and dyeability toward anionic dyes, as well as improved ultraviolet protection and enhanced resistance to the accumulation of electrostatic charge. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis of the treated fabrics assured the creation of amino groups (primary, secondary, or tertiary) within the plasma-treated samples and the successful anchoring of carboxylic groups, occurring with the side-chains of glutamic and aspartic acid residues along keratin macromolecules, onto the newly created amino groups on the surface of PP fibers. The scanning electronic micrographs of the keratin-treated samples confirmed the coating of the PP fibers’ surface with keratin. No severe loss in the fabric’s strength was recorded in the treated samples.