Fabrication of super-hydrophobic cotton fabric by low-pressure plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

In this paper, a super-hydrophobic cotton fabric was fabricated by low-pressure plasma-enhanced chemical vapor enhanced deposition (LP-PECVD) with lauryl methacrylate (LMA) as the functional monomer. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to analyze the changes of surface morphology and chemical composition of the cotton fabrics surface, respectively. A randomly wrinkled morphology was exhibited by SEM and AFM. The combination of the low surface energy film of LMA and micro-nano-scale structure resulted in the super-hydrophobicity of modified cotton fabrics. The reactive species in LMA/Ar plasma were studied by optical emission spectroscopy, and based on the results of the test, the reaction principle in the plasma reaction chamber was discussed. It was proved that the LMA film is polymerized by chemical bonds on the surface of cotton fibers. The water repellency, washing stability, water-vapor transmission, air permeability and tensile property of fabrics were also discussed. We found that a washing-stable and breathable super-hydrophobic cotton fabric can be achieved after treatment without decreasing the tensile property.