Study of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) grafted cotton fabrics initiated by atmospheric pressure plasma

Abstract

There is a significant interest in developing environmentally responsive or stimuli-responsive smart materials. In this paper, the thermo-responsiveness of cotton fabrics treated by helium atmospheric pressure plasma was investigated. Thermo-responsive cotton fabrics were prepared by grafting poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM) on their surfaces using atmospheric plasma. The thermoregulation properties under different environmental temperatures have been evaluated via thermal imaging analysis, comfort test and SEM. The grafting of PNIPAM on cotton fabrics was verified via ATR-FTIR, XPS, and ToF-SIMS. The analysis results indicate that cotton fabrics with PNIPAM treatments possess thermo-responsiveness when wetted. It was found that fabrics with plasma-initiated PNIPAM treatments have higher heat transfer coefficient above 32 °C and lower heat transfer coefficient below 32 °C than untreated fabrics. The heat transfer coefficient of a PNIPAM grafted cotton has a 10% difference from that of an untreated cotton at temperatures above and below LCST.