Development of plasma enhanced antiviral surgical gown for healthcare workers

AbstractPlasma treatments are gaining popularity in the textile industry due to their numerous advantages over conventional wet processing techniques. In this study, nonwoven fabrics spunbond polypropylene, polyester basis weight of 25 g/m2and microporous PTFE film were used to develop tri-laminate antiviral surgical gown. The outer layer of spunbond polypropylene was treated with plasma enhanced fluorocarbon. The plasma treated polypropylene was also treated with titanium nano dispersion finish in a single bath pad-dry-cure method. The pore sizes of nonwoven fabrics were characterized using tri-nocular microscope. The titanium nano finished polypropylene was characterized by scanning electron microscope. The tri-laminate surgical gown was developed with outer layer of plasma treated polypropylene, middle layer of PTFE and inner layer of polyester nonwoven. Liquid barrier properties of surgical performance were analyzed by viral penetration, antibacterial, spray impact penetration, hydrostatic resistance, tensile properties and moisture vapour permeability to estimate their suitability for antiviral surgical gown. It is observed that plasma treated gown shows 99.04% bacterial reduction as compared to untreated, thus providing barrier against microbes. The plasma treatment does not alter the weight and tensile properties of surgical gown. The developed plasma enhanced flurocarbon treated tri-laminate surgical gown offer sufficient liquid barrier properties for level 4 protection as per Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation classification. Moisture vapour transfer rate of plasma treated tri-laminate gown decreased by 21% in comparison with untreated nonwoven gown.