Atmospheric pressure plasma surface modification of carbon fibres

Carbon fibres are continuously treated with dielectric barrier discharge plasma at atmospheric pressure in various gas conditions for adhesion improvement in mind. An x-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis indicated that oxygen is effectively introduced onto the carbon fibre surfaces by He, He/O2 and Ar plasma treatments, mainly attributed to an increase in the density of the C-O single bond at the carbon fibre surfaces. The O/C ratio increased to 0.182 after 1-s He plasma treatment, and remained approximately constant after longer treatment. After exposure in an ambient air at room temperature for a month the O/C ratio at the plasma treated surfaces decreased to 0.151, which is close to that of the untreated ones. It can be attributed to the adsorption of hydrocarbon contamination at the plasma treated surfaces.