Plasma treatment of textiles for enhanced performance is expected to benefit many industries including military, healthcare, sport and leisure etc.
Plasma treatment is an intrinsically environmentally friendly process which can be used to functionalise the surface of textiles & fabric without altering the bulk properties of the material in any way. Vacuum plasma treatments can be applied in both small scale research machines or industrial-scale reel-to-reel machinery and can impart a number of enhanced properties including liquid repellency, enhanced fibre-matrix adherence, specific surface functionality and improved wettability.
Plasma surface treatment of medical plastics is used to increase the wettability of high-performance polymers which can be particularly difficult to print on and bond to due to their inherent low surface energy.
In addition, plasma treatments can deliver specific functionalisation of surfaces for e.g. protective coatings, barrier layers and to improve biomolecular absorption. Henniker offers a wide range of plasma surface treatments to the medical and life science industries to address these growing demands.
Typical Industry Applications:
- Small scale and industrial reel-to-reel plasma treatments
- Improved bonding of composite fibres
- Specific surface functionality without affecting bulk properties
- Hydrophobic, oleophobic and hydrophilic properties are possible
