Studies of physio-chemical changes of dielectric barrier discharge plasma treated aramid fibers

Present work deals with the DBD plasma-induced surface modifications of aramid fabric for different exposure times and at atmospheric pressure using various characterization techniques such as XPS, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and water contact angle measurements. Surface morphology using SEM reveals that, plasma treatment roughened the surface of the fabric. XPS results indicate that plasma treatment can successfully introduce polar functional groups onto the aramid fabric surface, improving its wettability and chemical reactivity. However, exceeding the optimal treatment time can result in the destruction of these functional groups and an increase in the C–C content, this can be attributed to the excessive etching of the surface and the destruction of the functional groups that were initially introduced during the plasma treatment. The ATR-FTIR spectra of plasma-treated aramid fabric show significant improvement in the intensities of CO and C–O stretching vibrations which relate to the wettability improvement. The results are discussed in the light of physical and chemical changes that occur due to DBD plasma treatment.