Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Surface Nano-Modification of PET Fabric by Plasma Process

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabrics were treated by radio frequency inductively coupled plasma (RF-ICP) to modify their hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties. Types of gases which were SF₆, O₂, N₂ and Ar, treatment time, pressure and RF power were varied systematically. The water droplet contact angle measurements showed that, treating with SF₆ plasma would result in the increase of hydrophobicity of PET samples while treating with O₂, N₂ and Ar plasmas would yield hydrophilic properties. In both hydrophobic and hydrophilic cases, the surface morphology of PET fibers was roughened after exposed to plasma. Hence, it is not obvious that these surface roughness induced by plasma is sufficient to yield the increase in hydrophobicity by the well known lotus effect.