Effect of Low-temperature Plasma Pre-treatment on the Chemical Silver-plated Polyester Fabrics

Abstract

Low-temperature plasma (LTP) has been increasingly employed for polymer surface modifications. In this paper, plasma gases of oxygen and argon were used for pre-treating polyester fabrics before conducting chemical silver plating, aiming to increase the amount of metal content and improve the performance of the polyester fabrics. After LTP pre-treatment, there was a thin plasma layer generation on the fabric surface which was in good contact with the fibre. Based on the observation of micro-structure using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), it was found that there was an increase in the amount of silver particles deposited on the fibre surface after the LTP pre-treatment. The surface observation implies that the LTP pre-treatment could enhance the hydrophilicity of fibre surface and help facilitate the absorption of silver particle layer to reach the necessary level of uniformity and adhesive strength.

Citation

Jiang, S.Q., Yuen, C.W.M., Tao, X.M., Kan, C.W. and Choi, P.S.R. (2006), "Effect of Low-temperature Plasma Pre-treatment on the Chemical Silver-plated Polyester Fabrics", Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 37-41. https://doi.org/10.1108/RJTA-10-03-2006-B005