Shrink Resistance of Wool Fabrics Treated by Plasma Polymerization of Perfluorocarbons

Abstract

Plasma polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene and hexafluoropropylene on wool fiberand fabric has been carried out. Shrink resistance and friction coefficient of the resultant wool were measured. Also surface properties of the wool were checked by ESCA. It was found that the fabric shows excellent shrink resistance as well as water repellency. It is likely that the mechanism of the shrink resistance for the resultant wool is different from that for plasma-treated wool investigated previously. For shrink resistance tetrafluoroethylene was more effective than hexafluoropropylene. In the case of tetrafluoroethylene the scale edge of the wool fiber was covered with the polymeric matrix. This morphological change seems to increase theshrink resistance. In contrast, with hexafluoropropylene such morphological change was not observed. Chemical change of surface of the fiber might influence the shrink resistance.