Ozone Treatment of Polyester Fabric for Surface Modification

Abstract

Currently, there is a greater demand for cotton-based goods for the purpose of apparel, including linens for homes and hospitals because of the expanding trend of mothers giving birth in hospitals as a result of hospital infrastructure developments.  On the other hand, there is a restricted application of cotton due to a lower potential of supplier raw materials with quality, and a tendency cotton goods for wrinkles after laundering since bed linens, especially those used in hospitals, are usually washable. Hence, to meet social demands, it is preferable to find and use alternative materials. In this paper polyester was used as alternative materials but, it has serious drawback due to its hydrophobic character. The main objective of this study was treated polyester fabric with ozone to make it appropriate for use as bed linen. Ozone treatment reduces the inherent drawbacks in polyester fabric, making it appropriate for use as hospital and residential bed linen. The Polyester fabric was exposed to 50% ozone gas concentrations at different time intervals of 20, 30, 40, and 50 minutes. Using a range of testing devices, changes in the fabric's chemical and physical properties have been analysed in order to assess the effects of these ozone treatments. As the result shows the formation of polar bond were confirmed by FTIR and indicates by increase in wettability and the colour strength of treated dyed Polyester samples. Long-time treatment of ozone provides higher absorbency of fabric with constant percentage of ozone amount.