Surface Activation of High Performance Polymer Fibers: A Review

High performance polymer fibers, such as polyester, aliphatic and aromatic polyamides, are well established in several technical applications, including personal protection equipment, sport, automotive or aerospace. This is due to their excellent thermal, mechanical and chemical properties. In the emerging field of textile based high performance composites and intelligent textiles, polymer fibers are often utilized in hybrids, i.e., in combination with other materials such as polymer matrices or metal coatings. In such cases, the step of activating or functionalizing the fibers is essential to enhance interface strength in the hybrid systems. This review provides a broad overview on recently applied activation and functionalization techniques on high performance polymer fibers including wet chemical and physicochemical treatments (e.g., hydrolysis, oxidation, complexation, deposition, flame, plasma treatment). The main objective is to review possible modification mechanisms, elaborate the effect of the modification on the fiber properties, and address possible applications of these techniques. The review also includes a comparison of the different techniques, thereby providing a better understanding of their potentials and restrictions. While the techniques differ in terms of versatility, handling, and environmental impact they all can, given the right choice of process parameters, provide well-defined fiber surface properties for the intended application.