Surface chemistry of plasma coated textiles studied by XPS

The performance of fluorinated textile treatment methods, in terms of wash resistance, was evaluated by XPS. Two different fluorination methods, solution based treatment and plasma polymer deposition, and four different textiles were studied with a view to producing long lasting, high performance clothing systems for outdoor activities. An important attribute of such textiles is the ability of the surface of the material to retain or regain its liquid repellent nature following conventional washing cycles.
XPS analysis revealed the degree of surface fluorination before and after wash cycles enabling the durability of the thin film coatings to be evaluated. Results indicated that for most materials the plasma polymer coated textiles exhibited better performance in terms of fluorine coverage and retention than the solution based fluorination metho