Durable Machine-Washable Wool via AOX-Free Plasma-Mediated Coating with Keratin

Although their favorable performance, appearance, and comfort attributes, woolen garments have the tendency to felt unenviably during washing. In this work, an eco-friendly, energy-saving, non-deteriorative process for the fabrication of machine-washable wool tops (WTs) was proposed. WTs were exposed to atmospheric air or an argon plasma treatment at different powers for various durations, followed by coating with a protein biopolymer, namely keratin, using the pad-dry-cure technique. The felting resistance of the finished WTs was evaluated, and the results revealed that the finished sample has an enhanced felting resistance to the extent of machine-washable wool (no felt ball is formed), whereas the untreated sample forms a felt ball with a diameter of 2.166 cm after undergoing the felting test. The treated WTs maintained their felting resistance after 20 wash cycles. The surface composition of the plasma-treated WTs was examined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The change in the chemical structure of the treated WTs was monitored by determining the cystine content, alkali solubility, base-combining capacity, and affinity to anionic dye. The dye exhaustion of the untreated and finished samples after 60 min was 66% and 98.8%, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy was used to study the wool fibers' topography. (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic). (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(WT)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic). (sic) WT (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic). (sic)(sic)(sic) WT (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)((sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic))(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)2.166 cm(sic)(sic)(sic). (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic) WT (sic) 20 (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic). (sic)(sic)X(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic) WT (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic). (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)WTs(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic). 60(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic) 66% (sic) 98.8%.(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).