Influence of plasma sputtering treatment on natural dyeing and antibacterial activity of wool fabrics

In this paper, the effect of plasma sputtering treatment on the natural dyeing properties of wool and the possibility of substituting it for mordant treatment have been studied. We used madder and weld as natural dyes and copper sulfate (CuSO4) as a metal mordant. We also used, copper as the electrode material, in a DC magnetron plasma sputtering device. The color strength of samples was analyzed using a Reflective Spectrophotometer and washing and light fastnesses were investigated according to I.S.O. standard recommendations. The results show that, the color strength and fastness of dyed wool samples have been improved after plasma treatment. The antibacterial counting test was also used for determining the antibacterial efficiency of plasma treated and mordanted samples and the durability of antibacterial properties of them was compared. The results show that the plasma treatment has improved the natural dyeing properties of wool as a good substitution for mordant treatment and has also increased the efficiency of its antibacterial activity. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.