Radiation technology in textile industry
Nowadays there is a great interest in developing novel finishes to add high value on textile materials. Recent developments in the textile industry are mainly focused on physical and chemical modifications on the surface of fibers and fabrics. Different chemical and biological methods have been used to improve or impart permanent functional properties on the surface of textile materials. However, some of these chemicals are toxic and sometimes expensive. This creates a problem during the treatment, due to the production of toxins and later when these pollutants are released into the environment.
Radiation technologies can help in both ways: reducing the use of toxic chemicals and reducing pollutants in wastewaters. Radiation technology involves low energy, no chemicals, ease of handling, and high treatment speed and can modify the surface of textiles and improve dye uptake, printing, fastness properties, adhesion of coatings, and adsorption of used chemicals.
As example, carbon fiber fabrics are used as ideal reinforcing materials in the advanced composite fields. Thanks to their excellent mechanical properties, heat and oxidation resistance, and environmental stabilities, carbon fibers are used for solar panels of space stations and electric vehicle bodies. All these excellent properties depend largely on the interfacial adhesion. Radiation-induced grafting has been extensively applied to evenly functionalize the fabric surfaces thus leading to a dramatic increase of the interfacial strength of the composites.
Radiation grafting has been used to tailor fabric properties. In the past the perfluoroalkyl phosphate acrylates have been grafted onto cotton fabrics via gamma-ray irradiation to improve the hydrophobic and oleophobic properties. Gamma rays have been applied also to improve the UV protection property on cotton, PET, and cotton/PET fabrics by surface curing.
The textile industries are one of the major sources of water pollution in terms of releasing highly colored waste streams in surface water bodies. Ionizing radiation has been successfully applied in the management of industrial effluent for many years. For example, cotton fiber has some unique properties. It is soft, comfortable, high moisture absorbent, hygienic and biodegradable and it is largely consumed in the apparel industries. However, the processing of cotton fiber is
hazardous and deploys toxic pollution load to the environment. In particular, the conventional preparation of cotton demands huge amounts of fresh water and it converts valuable water into toxic effluent. Researchers investigated the feasibility of gamma radiation to degrade the dye molecules and organic pollutants of textile wastewater. The irradiated wastewater was found to be recyclable in textile wet processing and reusable for irrigation purposes.
A solution for drinking water treatment under study is an innovative polymer membrane functionalized with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Indeed, AgNPs as effective antimicrobial agents could reduce health risks due to the presence of toxic metals and pathogenetic microbes in drinking water. A new method to immobilize AgNPs onto the acrylic grafted polyethylene nonwoven fabric by gamma Co-60 irradiation has been considered for drinking water treatment. The prepared fabrics show strong bactericidal efficiency against Escherichia Coli and preserve them also after several cycles of washing. This kind of filter can be used in air cleaners and many other applications.