Influence of ethylene glycol pretreatment on effectiveness of atmospheric pressure plasma treatment of polyethylene fibers

• Published in: Applied surface science Vol. 256; no. 10; pp. 3253 - 3258
• Main Authors: Wen, Ying, Li, Ranxing, Cai, Fang, Fu, Kun, Peng, Shujing, Jiang, Qiuran, Yao, Lan, Qiu, Yiping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.03.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Atmospheric pressure plasma treatment; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Ethylene glycol; Exact sciences and technology; Interfacial shear strength; Physics; UHMWPE fiber; XPS; Interfacial shear strength; Ethylene glycol; UHMWPE fiber; XPS; Atmospheric pressure plasma treatment; Pressure effects; Plasma assisted processing; Shear strength; Pretreatment; Fibers; X-ray photoelectron spectra
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2009.12.015

For atmospheric pressure plasma treatments, the results of plasma treatments may be influenced by liquids adsorbed into the substrate. This paper studies the influence of ethylene glycol (EG) pretreatment on the effectiveness of atmospheric plasma jet (APPJ) treatment of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers with 0.31% and 0.42% weight gain after soaked in EG/water solution with concentration of 0.15 and 0.3 mol/l for 24 h, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows that the surface of fibers pretreated with EG/water solution does not have observable difference from that of the control group. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results show that the oxygen concentration on the surface of EG-pretreated fibers is increased less than the plasma directly treated fibers. The interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of plasma directly treated fibers to epoxy is increased almost 3 times compared with the control group while that of EG-pretreated fibers to epoxy does not change except for the fibers pretreated with lower EG concentration and longer plasma treatment time. EG pretreatment reduces the water contact angle of UHMWPE fibers. In conclusion, EG pretreatment can hamper the effect of plasma treatment of UHMWPE fibers and therefore longer plasma treatment duration is required for fibers pretreated with EG.