Thin film deposition by PECVD using HMDSO-O2-Ar gas mixture on knitted wool fabrics in order to improve pilling resistance

In this work knitted wool fabrics were coated by a Si:O(x):C(y):H(z) thin film with the aim to promote pilling resistance. The wool samples were plasma coated in a radio frequency (RF) glow discharge using hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) as the precursor, in mixture with argon and oxygen gases, for different deposition times and reaction pressures, at constant discharge power. Deposited films were characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and surface morphology by means of scanning electron microscopy; moreover, propensity to pilling of treated samples was investigated, showing that treated fabrics had a better pilling performance respect to untreated ones.