Effect of plasma treatment on crease recovery finish of linen with carboxylic acid

The effect of helium plasma treatment has been investigated on crease recovery finish of linen fabric using carboxylic acid as crosslinker. After the plasma treatment, 5% increase in wet pickup is observed compared to the control fabric. This plasma treated sample is crosslinked with butyl tetracarboxylic acid (BTCA). The significant increase in crease recovery angle is found as compared to the untreated crosslinked fabric. However, significant reduction in tearing is also observed in both the cases. Tearing strength could be improved to acceptable range by adding silicone softener during cross-linking process. The untreated and plasma-treated fabrics are analyzed by scanning electron microscope and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy to investigate the changes in surface morphology and surface functional groups.