Plasma-Assisted Antimicrobial Finishing of Textiles: A Review

• The importance of plasma-assisted engineering in antimicrobial finish is reviewed. • Types and mechanism of plasma application in textiles is reviewed. • The rationale of using plasma in antimicrobial finishing is critically analysed. Owing to the ongoing pandemic, the importance of and demand for antimicrobial textiles have reached new heights. In addition to being used for medical purposes, antimicrobial textiles could be a self-defense entity against microbes for the general population. Because textiles are widely used, they can effectively be used to prevent the spread of microbes worldwide. The conventional antibacterial finishing process of textiles is the wet treatment method using either the pad–dry–cure or exhaustion techniques. However, the textile wet treatment industries are major contributors to worldwide pollution, which is extremely concerning. Given the current and near-future high demand, it is imperative to include plasma in antimicrobial finishing to achieve high efficiency in production, while retaining a safe environment. Hence, this paper reviews the rationale of plasma use in textile antimicrobial finishing through a critical analysis of recent studies and emphasizes the types and mechanisms of plasma techniques available for application.