Abstract
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plain woven fabric was treated by the 172 nm ultraviolet (UV) excimer. From the tensile extension parameters and the surface reflectance, the UV impact damage to the fabric was confirmed to be negligibly small. The considerable increases in wettability and the surface free energy of the PET fiber were found by
the contact angle measurement. The capillary wetting and the moisture absorption of the fabrics were successfully enhanced by the UV treatment. In addition, detergency and dyeability were found to improve after the UV treatment. Xray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed that the UV irradiation to the PET fabrics increased oxygen concentration and roughness on the single fiber surfaces, leading to improve the above serviceability properties.
