Surface modification of polymer fibre by the new atmospheric pressure cold plasma jet

A new cold plasma jet has been developed for surface modification of materials at atmospheric pressure. This new cold plasma jet generator is composed of two concentric cylindrical all-metal tube electrodes. The argon is fed into the inner-grounded electrode, the outer electrode is connected to the high-voltage power supply and covered with a layer of dielectric, and then a stable cold plasma jet is formed and blown out into air. The plasma gas temperature is only 25–30 °C. Preliminary results are presented on the modification of polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibres by this cold plasma jet. The water contact angle of these materials is found to decrease after plasma treatment and it will recover a little in two months. The chemical changes on the surface of polymers are studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used to study the changes in surface feature of polymers due to plasma treatment. The hydrophilicity and surface structure of these materials after plasma treatment are discussed. The results show that such a plasma jet is effective.