Modification of terylene fabric by homogeneous discharge in air at atmospheric pressure

Homogeneous discharge with no filaments is capable of operating at atmospheric pressure when the dielectric barriers were polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films with mesh wires. The nonthermal plasma produced by the homogeneous discharge has many applications in the textile or polymer surface modification. In this paper, the terylene fabric is treated by the atmospheric plasma and the surface hydrophilicity is studied. The discharge device is powered by a high voltage AC source with a frequency of 50 Hz. Two parallel-plane electrodes are designed as the shape of Rogowski electrodes to achieve the field uniformity. The change of wickability of the fabric surface is measured and its durability is tested. The study shows that after the treatment by the discharge with mesh between the electrodes, the wickability is improved. The surface modifying effect is sustained during a long time.