Innovative UVC Light (185 nm) and Radio-Frequency-Plasma Pretreatment of Nylon Surfaces at Atmospheric Pressure and Their Implications in Photocatalytic Processes

Innovative pretreatment by UVC light (185 nm) and by radio-frequency (RF) plasma at atmospheric pressure to functionalize the Nylon surface, increasing its bondability toward TiO2, is reported in this study In the case of UVC light pretreatment in air, the molar absorption coefficient of O-2/N-2 at 185 nm is very low and the air in the chamber absorbs very little light from the UVC source before reaching the Nylon sample Nylon fabrics under RF plasma were also functionalized at atmospheric pressure because of the marked heating effect introduced in the Nylon by the RF plasma This effect leads to intermolecular bond breaking and oxygenated surface groups in the topmost Nylon layers. Both pretreatments enhanced significantly the photocatalytic discoloration of the red-wine stain in Nylon-TiO2 compared with samples without pretreatment. The UVC and RF methods in the absence of vacuum imply a considerable cost reduction to functionalize textile surfaces, suggesting a potential industrial application Red-wine-stain discoloration under simulated sunlight was monitored quantitatively by diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy and by CO2 evolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to monitor the changes of the C, N, and S species on the Nylon topmost layers during the discoloration process Significant changes in the XPS spectra of Ti 2p peaks were observed during discoloration of the wine spots Wine stains attenuated the signal of the Ti 2p (458.4 eV) peak in the Nylon-TiO2-stained wine sample at time zero (from now on, the time before (he discoloration process) Furthermore. a decrease of the wine-related O 1s signal at 529 7 eV and N 1s signal at 399 5 eV was observed during the discoloration process. indicating an efficient catalytic decomposition of the wine pigment on Nylon-TiO2, X-ray diffraction detected the formation of anatase on the Nylon fibers High-resolution transmission electron microscopy shows the formation of anatase particles with sizes between 8 and 20 nm