PVD-Coating for the Processing of Textiles

Abstract

The application of textiles has constantly been extended by new developments, material modification and by special procedures. Particularly surface coatings represent an innovative contribution to the textile processing. In the case of synthetic fibers, because they are usually too hydrophobic and inert and there is no sufficient wetting or adhesion for textile processing. For the improvement of the adhesive strength of PVD-layers (Physical Vapour Deposition) the substrates must be pretreated differently, e. g. by plasma treatment / O₂-plasma / plasma polymerization / glow discharge plasma / high frequency plasma, corona treatment, fluoridation.

For surface modification, gaseous phase procedure fluoridation was applied in the present study. The fluorine concentration was 1%, 2% and 3% with a rolling speed of 5 m/min. Afterwards fluoridated samples with Cu were sputtered. The coating materials with the Magnetron Sputter technique do not evaporate but only sputter. This procedure is mainly used, where the materials are exposed to strong thermal fluctuations. This target (Cu) faces a substrate with a distance of 6 cm only. Plasma unloading takes place between these two partners in a process gas (argon). The argon ions resulted from unloading are being accelerated on to the target and cause ions to strike, due to their high kinetic energy, neutral atoms or molecule fragments from the target surface, which condense there at high speed on the substrate.

The examination of the adhesive strength and stability of the applied layers were carried out. The PEEL- test, in which the material glued on to the surface is taken off, gives information about the adhesion of the layers on the substrate. Scrubbing gives information about the abraded surface in percentage. Analytical data of fluorinated surface modification were obtained by REM (Raster Electron Microscopy) and AFM (Raster Force Microscopy). The portion of the fluorine and oxygen atoms on the surface can be determined by XPS (X-ray- Photoelectron Spectroscopy). Detailed results can be shown and evaluated.

It is proven that during the gaseous phase fluorination, polar groups at the outside polymer chains were produced, as hydrogen atoms in the polymer chain are replaced by fluorine atoms. The surface modification is examined by the contact angle of liquids. Thus the polar and disperse portion of the surface energy can be determined. The goal of the PVD coating has produced different functionalities in the sputtered layers e. g. electromagnetic shielding, electrical conductivity.

Citation

Kabir, H., Matthess, J., Dietzel, Y., Offermann, P., Nocke, G., Matthess, K. and V., V. (2004), "PVD-Coating for the Processing of Textiles", Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 32-37. https://doi.org/10.1108/RJTA-08-01-2004-B005