Wettability Of Siox Nanofibrous Mats And Their Modification Using Cold Atmospheric Plasma Treatment

In this paper, the wetting characteristics of silica-based (SiOx) nanofibrous mats were studied. First, the contact angles of the nanofibrous mat surface were determined using optical tensiometry. Contact angles for two probe liquids (distilled water and diiodomethane) were measured using the static sessile drop method. Then, the initially hydrophobic SiOx nanofibrous mat (water contact angle approximate to 136 degrees) was changed to hydrophilic using plasma treatment. Surface modification with a cold atmospheric plasma device is a fast, dry, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly process. Contact angle measurement data were utilized to calculate the surface free energy of the mat based on the model of Owens, Wendt, Rabel, and Kaelble. Finally, the potential applications (e.g., filtration, separation) of SiOx nanofibrous mats were briefly described.