Free radical generation upon plasma treatment of cotton fibers and their initiation efficiency in surface-graft polymerization.

Low-temperature plasma was used to activate mercerized cotton fabrics, to be followed by grafting with various methacrylates. Careful analysis of the experimental electron spin resonance (ESR) lineshapes of cotton samples treated at different RF powers made it possible to recognize and quantify four different species of free radicals still persistent 30 h after irradiation in the samples maintained under inert atmosphere. The decay rate of these species at room temperature was also evaluated with the analysis of the time evolution of the ESR spectra.

Photocatalytic degradation of actual textile industrial wastewater in aqueous suspensions of polycrystalline TiO2.

Heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation of contaminants present in wastewater produced by a textile industry was carried out. The samples were withdrawn from the plant before and after a traditional biological treatment. The effluents were named A and A' (before the biological treatment), B and B' (after the biological treatment).