Marija Gorjanc

• DrSc
• Professor (Associate) at University of Ljubljana

In this study, a novel green process was developed to produce a multifunctional cotton (CO) fabric incorporating TiO2/curcumin composites that simultaneously provides UV protection and photocatalytic performance. For this purpose, TiO2 was synthesised using the sol–gel process; loaded with the natural colourant curcumin as a visible light absorber...

Emodin is a natural product with a wide range of biological activities, including antibacterial and antiviral activity against the human coronavirus NL63. Our aim was to develop antimicrobial textiles using the natural dye emodin and its derivatives and to investigate how chemical modification of emodin affects the binding properties to textiles an...

Cellulose produced by bacteria (BC) is considered a promising material for the textile industry, but the fragile and sensitive nature of BC membranes limits their broad applicability. Production of all-cellulose biocomposites, in which the BC is cultivated in situ on a cotton fabric, could solve this problem, but here a new issue arises, namely poo...

The aim of the Book Advances in Textile Materials Chemistry was to provide an overview of scientific research into the development of advanced textile materials with multifunctional or targeted properties, focussing on the use of modern and environmentally friendly processing methods. The book covers a wide range of topics. Firstly, it refers to re...

Cellulose is an abundant natural polymer and is thus promising for enforcing biobased plastics. A broader application of cellulose fibers as a filler in polymer composites is limited because of their hydrophilicity and hygroscopicity. The recent scientific literature on plasma methods for the hydrophobization of cellulose materials is reviewed and...

The introduction of green chemistry has become urgent in the development of innovative, high-performance functional textiles to reduce the environmental footprint of their production. This study aims to develop a new eco-friendly process for the hydrothermal in-situ synthesis of TiO2 in cotton fabric and dyeing with curcumin natural dye to produce...

Introducing green technologies and minimising the use of synthetic and toxic compounds are the most important steps to overcome the environmental obstacles in textile finishing. Another essential requirement for a better life is the prevention of waste, which negatively impacts the environment, economy and human health. This chapter presents a comp...

Giant goldenrod (S. gigantea Aiton) is considered an invasive weed in Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. In this research, the untreated and chitosan-treated cotton fabrics were functionalized with goldenrod inflorescences aqueous extract, at room temperature and 95°C. Zeta potential of fabrics was determined as a function of pH and the resu...

The use of nanomaterials to functionalise textiles offers new opportunities for chemical modification of textile fibres’ surfaces to achieve multifunctional protective properties. In this study, novel coatings were tailored on cotton fabric by embedding a mixture of TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) of different molar ratios into a chitosan polymer...

This article presents green in situ synthesis of ZnO directly on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabrics using pomegranate peel extract. The surface of PET was activated by environmentally friendly oxygen plasma, and the process was compared to alkali treatment where the extract of wood ash was used instead of classical chemicals. Sorption analysi...

An extensive study on using plant waste aqueous extracts as natural chemicals for in-situ synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) on cotton is presented. Reducing agents were prepared from green tea leaves (GT), pomegranate peels (PG), and staghorn sumac leaves (SsL) and drupes (SsD), and the alkaline medium from discarded wood ash. Zinc acetate was found to...

The development of durable multifunctional properties is crucial for the production of high-performance technical textiles. In this work, a novel, environmentally friendly and facile method was developed for the chemical modification of cotton fabric by in situ biosynthesis of Ag NPs in the presence of sumac leaf extract as a reducing agent on TiO2...

This study presents an eco-friendly protocol for the hydrophilization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabric and the in situ synthesis of ZnO particles. The alkaline medium and reducing agent for ZnO synthesis were prepared as aqueous extracts from wood ash and pomegranate peel, respectively. Due to the hydrophobic nature of the PET fabric, oxy...

The development of pH-responsive textile sensors has attracted much interest in recent decades. Therefore, the aim of this study was to show that screen printing could be one of the possible techniques for development of pH-responsive textile. Several parameters that could influence the pH sensitivity and responsivity of a screen-printed textile wi...

This work presents two protocols for the green in situ synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NP) on cotton with the aim to develop sustainable cotton fabric with an ultraviolet protection factor (UPF). The protocols differed in the order of immersing cotton fabric in reactive solutions of three batches, i.e., precursor (0.1 M zinc acetate dihy...

Cotton fabric was exposed to low-pressure capacitively coupled plasma to enhance the adsorption and adhesion of fragrance microcapsules (FCM). Two plasma-forming gases, namely oxygen (O2) and nitrogen (N2), were investigated. The untreated and plasma-treated samples were investigated for their morphological changes by scanning electron microscopy (...

This work presents the novel and entirely green in situ synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NP) on cotton fabric. Pomegranate peel extract was used as a reducing agent and wood ash extract was used as an alkali source for the formation of ZnO-NP from zinc acetate. Four different synthesis methods, which varied in drying between immersion of...

The purpose of the study is to investigate the possibility of using wine industry wastes, such as red and white grape bagasse, to produce bacterial cellulose (BC) instead of using a costly commercial medium. BC was produced using grape bagasse as a carbon source replacement and the sole nutrient in the medium. The BC films were evaluated for their...

This work focuses on a novel technique based on the spray–dry–cure method to establish a hydrophobic sol–gel coating on a lignocellulosic coir fibre surface. The fibres were first activated with oxygen plasma to ensure spreading of the droplets and thus coating uniformity. The efficiency of this method was highlighted by the high content of fluorin...

An overview of recent work on the low-temperature plasma-assisted synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles is presented and interpreted in terms of gas-phase and surface reactions with illustrated examples. The thermodynamical nonequilibrium conditions allow the formation of chemically reactive species with a potential energy of several eV, whic...

The development of cellulose-based textiles that are functionalised with silver nanoparticles (AgNP), synthesised according to a green approach, and offer protection against ultraviolet (UV) radiation and pathogenic bacteria is very important today. In the present work we demonstrate the environmentally friendly approach to obtain such textile mate...

Defluorination of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) surface film is a suitable technique for tailoring its surface properties. The influence of discharge parameters on the surface chemistry was investigated systematically using radio-frequency inductively coupled H2 plasma sustained in the E- and H-modes at various powers, pressures and treatment time...

To develop bio-nanocomposites using natural biopolymers, nanocomposite films were prepared based on sodium alginate and kapok nanofibrils (CNFs). CNFs when subjected to TEMPO-mediated oxidation gave rise to cellulose nanocrystals (TOCNCs), with carboxyl groups at the surface ( K a / K b = 3.64). The differences between the two types of nanoc...

This research presents a new procedure for the chemical modifi cation of cotton fabric, which included a ‘’green’’ in situ synthesis of silver particles using an extract of sumac leaves as a reducing agent. To increase the adsorption ability of silver cations, a sol-gel matrix was previously created on cotton fabric using an organic–inorganic precu...

The weak photostability of photochromic dyes applied to textile substrates is one of the disadvantages of the broader use of photochromic dyes in the textile industry. Therefore, the influence of optical brightener concentration on both the photocoloration and photostability of cotton fabric coated with photochromic microcapsules using a pad-dry-cu...

This work examines the possibility of using leaves from the invasive plant species Fallopia japonica (Japanese knotweed) as a source of dye for the natural dyeing of cotton. To achieve a higher uptake of extracted dye, a cationic agent instead of a classical mordant was used to treat the cotton prior to dyeing. Distilled water and 0.5 M NaOH were u...

The use of ZnO for the functionalization of textile substrates is growing rapidly, since it can provide unique multifunctional properties, such as photocatalytic self-cleaning, antimicrobial activity, UV protection, flame retardancy, thermal insulation and moisture management, hydrophobicity, and electrical conductivity. This paper aims to review t...

Technical textile materials with multifunctional protective properties represent one of the largest and fast growing segments of the textile industry. Multifunctional water- and oil-repellent and flame-retardant coating on polyester (PES) fabric was prepared in this research using fluoroalkyl-functional siloxane (FAS) as the water- and oil-repellen...

The aim of this research was to investigate diff erent parameters of the in situ synthesis of ZnO nanoparti-cles on cotton in order to achieve a high ultraviolet protection factor (UPF). In the first part of the research the influence of different reducing agents (Na2CO3 , KOH, and NaOH) and their molar concentrations (0.1 M and 1 M) on the formati...

The influence of the treatment process on the dyeability of cotton fabric with a natural dye from goldenrod blooms was studied in this research. The dyeing was performed on untreated and treated cotton samples. The treating of the samples, using mordant (KAl(SO4)2 × 12 H2O), was performed before and during the dyeing process, whilst treatment with...

This paper presents an in-depth study of the surface modification of polyethylene terephthalate fabric (PET) with non-thermal plasma and temperature-and pH-responsive nanogel (PNCS) to impart smart thermoregulation properties. To increase the adsorption of the PNCS nanogel onto the PET, ammonia and oxygen plasma and a combination of both plasma gas...

This white paper considers the future of plasma science and technology related to the manufacturing and modifications of plastics and textiles, summarizing existing efforts and the current state‐of‐art for major topics related to plasma processing techniques. It draws on the frontier of plasma technologies in order to see beyond and identify the gr...

A new functional, stimuli-responsive microgel coating on polyamide 6 (PA6) fabric with simultaneous temperature (T)- and pH-responsive moisture management, UV protection and photocatalytic self-cleaning properties was prepared by applying poly-(N-isopropylacrylamide)/chitosan (PNCS) microgel in combination with ZnO nanoparticles to PA6 fabric. Two...

Raw cotton fabrics have been exposed to low-pressure non-equilibrium gaseous plasma to improve the adsorption of natural dyes as well as ultraviolet (UV) protection factor. Plasma created in a glass tube by an electrodeless radiofrequency (RF) discharge was created either in oxygen or ammonia at the pressure of 50 Pa to stimulate formation of oxyge...

Commercial microencapsulated photoresponsive dye was applied on cotton, polyester/cotton and polyester fabric using a pad-dry-cure process. Colour fastness of the photoresponsive fabrics to washing, wet cleaning, dry cleaning, rubbing and light was investigated. The CIELAB colour values of the fabrics before and after testing were measured using a...

Dyeing with natural dyes extracted from curcuma, green tea, avocado seed, pomegranate peel and horse chestnut bark was studied to evaluate the dyeability and ultraviolet (UV) blocking properties of raw and bleached/mercerised cotton fabrics. 20 g/l of powdered plant material was extracted in distilled water and used as a dyeing bath. No mordants we...

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabric was treated in a late afterglow of plasma created by a microwave (MW) discharge in the surfatron mode, by using oxygen (O2) and ammonia (NH3) gases. The series of treatments using one gas or the combination of both at different treatment times were performed in order to increase the embedment of UV-responsive...

The aim of this research was to study the possibility of introducing a three-stage procedure for chemical modification of textile fibres to achieve antimicrobial properties as well as to determine the influence of the procedure on chemical, morphological and functional properties of fibres and their degree of biodegradation. The procedure was appli...

Dyeing of raw and bleached cotton fabrics with a natural dye of curcumin was studied to implement the ancient and environmentally friendly technique of developing photos called anthotype. With the aim of achieving different colours of dyed cotton fabrics, several modifi cations were performed, such as extraction of curcumin in hard and soft water,...

Samples of bleached cellulose fabric were treated with weakly ionized highly dissociated oxygen plasma in order to improve the binding of ZnO nanoparticles, antibacterial properties and biodegradability. Low specific discharge power of about 24 W l⁻¹ was applied in order to minimize thermal effects following plasma treatment. Optical emission spect...

The cellulose fabrics made from 100 % cotton with antibacterial and UV protective properties were successfully created by loading of Ag/TiO2 nanocomposite during and after dyeing with yellow, red and blue reactive dye. Blank dyeing (dyeing with all chemicals except dye) was performed to show that reactive dyes have an ability to increase the adsorp...

To achieve colourful and antibacterial textiles using ecologically friendly processes, cotton and bamboo rayon knitted fabrics were treated using radio-frequency low-pressure water vapour plasma and dyed with the extract of Fallopia japonica (Japanese knotweed) rhizome. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was used to observe plasma during the sampl...

Oxygen plasma pre-treatment was applied to cotton fabric with the aim of improving the water repellency performance of an inorganic-organic hybrid sol-gel perfluoroalkyl-functionalized polysilsesquioxane coating. Cotton fabric was pre-treated with low-pressure oxygen plasma for different treatment times and operating powers. Afterward, 1H,1H,2H,2H-...

The aim of this study was to create the novel functional properties on polyamide 6 (PA 6) fabrics by the application of antimicrobially active AgCl particles and sol-gel finish with water-and oil-repellent properties. To increase adsorption abilities, the PA 6 fabric was treated by oxygen plasma for 30 seconds. Afterwards, in-situ synthesis of AgCl...

The development of lignocellulosic natural fibre reinforced polymers composites are constrained by two limitations: the upper temperature at which the fibre can be processed and the significant differences between the surface energy of the fibre and the polymer matrix. Since the fibres and matrices are chemically different, strong adhesion at their...

The dyeability of cotton fabric with turmeric extract in two concentrations (pale and dark dyeing) was studied using four diff erent mordants in low concentration (0.2 g/l). As mordants three metal salts were used as mordants (ferrous sulphate, aluminium sulphate and zinc chloride), and organic mordant tannin. The mordanting of cotton was performed...

Silver nitrate (AgNO3) was used as a mordant for dyeing cotton fabric with natural dyes. Due to the high concentrations of catechin and tannin, green tea was used as a natural dye. The green tea extraction was performed under neutral and alkaline conditions. Four molar concentrations of AgNO3 were used, namely 1, 5, 10 and 50 mM. Mordanting was per...

A critical factor in reinforced polymer is the strength of the bond between the fibre and polymer matrix, becuase the load is transmitted through the fibre matrix interface. The quality of fibre matrix interface is significant for the application of natural fibre as reinforcement for polymers [1,2].The present study focuses on the surface propertie...

In this paper we examined the effect of plasma pretreatment on the structure and antimicrobial properties of knitted fabrics (100% cotton, 100% bamboo and 50% cotton/50% bamboo) treated with alcoholic herbal extracts of Achillea millefolium L. and Reynoutria japonica Houtt. The influence of water vapour plasma pretreatment on the surface functional...

Low-pressure oxygen plasma created by an electrodeless radiofrequency (RF) discharge was applied to modify the properties of cellulosic fibrous polymer (cotton) in order to improve adsorption properties towards zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles and to achieve excellent ultraviolet (UV) protective properties of cotton fabric. The chemical and physical...

Some applications of extremely non-equilibrium oxygen plasma for tailoring the surface properties of organic as well as inorganic materials are presented. Plasma of low or moderate ionization fraction and very high dissociation fraction is created by high frequency electrodeless discharges created in chambers made from a material of low recombinati...

Uticaj upotrebe močila kod bojenja biljnim ekstraktima na stepen obojenja pletenina IZVOD U ovom radu je istraživan uticaj upotrebe moĉila kod bojenja pletenina, bez i sa prethodnom obradom plazmom, ekstraktima biljke Achillea millefolium L. na stepen obojenja. Za istraživanja su korištene tri pletenine od prirodnih vlakana (100 % pamuk, 100 % bamb...

In the research, the influence of dyeing with three reactive dyes Avitera SE, i.e. yellow, red and blue, on the functional properties of cotton fabrics finished with SiO2 nanoparticles, hydro- and oleophobic finish (FAS) and the combination of both (SiO2 + FAS) was studied. At the same time, the influence of applied finishes on the colour change of...

Surface morphology of woven cotton fabrics was modified by treatment with mild plasma created in tetrafluoromethane (CF4) at the pressure of 60 Pa. Samples of dimensions 20 cm × 20 cm were mounted into a 27-cm-wide cylindrical plasma reactor powered with a radio frequency generator of frequency 27.12 MHz and output power of about 500 W. The volume...

Modification of fibrous polymers by gaseous plasma Principles, techniques and applications Fibrous polymers have been the part of our life since the beginning of time. The application of these materials ranges from clothing to artificial blood vessels. The surface properties of selected polymers are not always adequate so they have to be modified p...

The influence of water vapor plasma on the adsorption of UV absorber during the reactive dyeing of bleached and mercerized cotton fabric was examined. Exhaust dyeing of untreated and plasma-treated cotton was performed using a reactive dye Cibarcon Deep Red S-B and a commercial UV absorber Tinofast CEL. Blank dyeing was performed as a control exper...

The influence of different application methods on UV protective properties of white and dyed cotton functionalized with ZnO nanoparticles (nano-ZnO) was investigated. The methods differ in application procedure, time of treatment and auxiliaries used in the treating bath. The ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) was determined for untreated and func...

Weakly ionised gaseous plasma created in a moist tetrafluoromethane gas at a low pressure with an electrodeless radiofrequency discharge was applied to modify the surface properties of cellulose fibres. The plasma was used to increase the adsorption of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles such that cellulose fibres with good ultraviolet (UV) protective p...

In the research, the influence of dyeing with three reactive dyes Avitera SE, i.e. yellow, red and blue, on the functional properties of cotton fabrics finished with Si02 nanoparticles, hydro- and oleophobic finish (FAS) and the combination of both (Si02 + FAS) was studied. At the same time, the influence of applied finishes on the colour change of...

The aim of the study was to examine the infl uence of various protective fi nishes on the visual properties of anaglyph images and CMYK primary colours digitally printed on a cotton fabric. Using the impregnation process, one-component water- and oil-repellent, and fl ame retardant fi nishes, as well as their combination were subsequently applied o...

This study deals with the treatment of cotton and polyester fibres with a low-pressure, inductively coupled RF plasma, in which the water vapour from the fibres was used as a plasma-forming gas. Cotton, which is a hydrophilic, natural, cellulose fibre and polyester, which is a hydrophobic, synthetic, polyethylene terephthalate fibre, were used. Pla...

The influence of low-pressure inductively coupled radiofrequency (LP ICRF) water vapour plasma pre-treatment and the subsequent sol-gel coating with the organic-inorganic hybrid precursor fluoroalkyl-functional siloxane (FAS) on the surface properties of the polyester (PES) fabric was studied. The chemical and morphological modifications of the fab...

In the research, the influence of the addition of a surface active agent (surfactant) into a dyebath on the adsorption of the anionic acid dye C.I. Acid Red 14 (AR14) onto polyamide 6 knitwear (PA 6) was studied. The dyeing was performed in the apparatus Launder-ometer at four different dyeing temperatures, i.e. 40, 50, 60 and 70 °C, and at pH 4 un...

The surface modification of cellulose fibres was performed with the use of low-pressure water vapour plasma, followed by the application of a pad-dry-cure sol–gel coating with the water- and oil-repellent organic–inorganic hybrid precursor fluoroalkyl-functional siloxane (FAS), with the aim of creating the “lotus effect” on the cotton fabric surfac...

Bleached, mercerized cotton fabrics were used in this research. In the first phase, the dyeing of cotton fabrics with a blue vat dye Bezathren Blau BCE was performed, and in the second phase, the dyed fabrics were immersed into a colloidal silver solution. The colloidal silver solution was prepared via synthesis from AgNO3 and reduced with NaBH4. P...

In this research, the infl uence of the pre-treatment of cotton using environmentally friendly processes, i.e. plasma and enzymes, on the quality of hydro- and oleophobic sol-gel coating was studied. The samples were pre-treated with low-pressure water vapour plasma, cellulases and their combinations, and subsequently fi nished with modified fl uor...

For a modification of natural and synthetic fibrous polymers low-pressure ICRF plasma and liquid repellent sol-gel fluoroalkyl-functional siloxane precursor were used. Plasma induced surface chemical and morphological changes on fluorinated poly(ethylene terephthalate) and cellulose were analysed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ato...

The influence of reactive dyeing on the silver adsorption of antimicrobial agent Ruco-Bac AGP on a cotton fabric was investigated for the research purpose. RucoBac AGP was applied on a cotton fabric using the exhaustion method. For a comparison, RucoBac AGP was applied on fabrics treated in a blank dyebath which contained all auxiliaries except for...

In an attempt to use minimal concentrations, initially, of silver nanoparticles for loading onto textiles and to achieve maximum concentrations on the material, CF4 low-pressure plasma was used on bleached and mercerized cotton fabric. The concentrations of silver on the fabrics were determined by the ICP-MS method (inductively coupled plasma-mass...

The objective of this research was to use Ar/N2 (50%:50%) plasma to increase the adhesion of nano silver particles to raw polyester fabric. RUCO-BAC AGP was applied using the exhaust method. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed differences in surface composition between the Ar/N2 plasma-treated and untreated raw fabrics. The Ar/N2 plasma treat...

The influence of water vapor plasma on chemical, morphological and mechanical properties of bleached and mercerized cotton fabric was studied. Reactive exhaust dyeing was used for loading of nano silver. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy results show that plasma treatment enhanced nano silver adhesion to the fabric, which also contribute...

In this work, the antibacterial and other properties of polyester fabrics previously functionalized by corona and/or silver nano particles have been studied. Corona air plasma was used as a pretreatment of raw, washed and washed-thermostabilized polyester fabrics to increase the adhesion of nano silver particles resulting in an excellent antibacter...

The paper presents various researches of functionalization of cellulosic textile materials with plasma, as well as the basis of cellulosic textile fibers and cotton as the representative of the purest form of cellulose in nature. Due to its favorable characteristics, cotton is still highly valued in the textile industry. The existing chemical techn...

Polyester knitted goods treated with atmospheric corona plasma were investigated with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The surface composition and chemical bonding of surface atoms were analysed after the plasma treatment and subsequent ageing of samples. The PET knitted goods were one-side treated in a corona air atmospheric plasma apparatus oper...

In this study, bleached and mercerized cotton fabric was treated with low-pressure plasma; water vapor and CF4 were used as gases. Some fabrics were treated with plasma and some were not; however, all of the fabrics were blank dyed. Twenty milligrams per liter of nano silver (30 nm and 80 nm in size) was added to the dyebath. A wash fastness test w...

The goal of this research was to determine the compatibility of the color difference equations CIELAB and CMC(2:1) on 32 dyed samples. The relationships between color differences and color coordinates in the CIELAB and CMC(2:1) equations are introduced. A Data - color Spectraflash SF 600-CT spectrophotometer was used for measurement of the color di...

The purpose of this research was to determine the influence of temperature, pH, and the addition of sodium oxide silicium oxide (soso) on the dyeability of cotton warp during the process of dip-dyeing. A simulation of the dip-dyeing technique was used. The results show a negligible influence of dip-dyeing bath temperature on the color yield of cott...

The purpose of the paper is to briefly describe plasma systems of different producers presented on ITMA 2007 in Munich. The company Unitech introduced plasma system that works on atmospheric pressure. Corona Star Eco System, Coating Star Corona /Aerosol, and Plasma Star/Gas System, which also work on atmospheric pressure, were introduced by Albrand...

Use of plasma technology for textile purposes dates back in 90's of last century. In the present time there are more and more researches in this field area and the researchers discovered many new and interesting aspects in use of plasma in textile technology, which lead to new challenges and inventions in research. Plasma treatment of textile mater...