ABSTRACT
Textiles are interesting materials due to their flexibility, permeability, strength, light weight, skin-friendliness, breathability, and large surface area. The latter might even be enhanced by applying a nanostructured surface coating using plasma deposition mechanism. Such bimodal structures can be used, for example, to support wetting properties, functional group density, cell growth, electrical contacting, catalytic processes, and antimicrobial efficacy. In order to make use of plasma technology for textile processing, a high control over the plasma conditions both in the gas phase as well as at the growing film surface is required, which is strongly related to the energy input into the plasma. Sputter deposition-yielding metallization and metal oxide films, plasma polymerization for functional and protective coatings, as well as combination of both processes are investigated to obtain conditions for nanostructured film growth. Reliable low-pressure plasma processes are available enabling the resource-saving, uniform treatment over large areas or along fibers using reel-to-reel apparatus. Multifunctional textile surfaces are thus enabled yielding high-value-added products for niche applications.
