Surface characteristic of poly( p ‐phenylene terephthalamide) fibers with oxygen plasma treatment

Oxygen plasma is widely employed for modification of polymer surfaces. Plasma treatment process is a convenient procedure that is also environmentally friendly. This study reports the effects of oxygen plasma treatment on the surface properties of poly( p ‐phenylene terephthalamide) (PPTA) fibers. The surface characteristics before and after oxygen plasma treatment were analyzed by XPS, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and dynamic contact angle analysis (DCAA). It was found that oxygen plasma treatment introduced some new polar groups (OCO) on the fiber surface, increased the fiber surface roughness and changed the surface morphologies obviously by plasma etching and oxidative reactions. It is also shown that the fiber surface wettability was improved significantly by oxygen plasma treatment.