Study On The Property Of Moisture Absorption For Polypropylene Fibers Modified By Low-Temperature Plasma

Polypropylene fiber is a wearable, chemical-resistant, mildew-proof and good crease recovery fiber. Compared with other fabric, PP fabric has a lot of better properties. As a result, PP fabric has been used in many fields, such as decoration, industry and garments. However, PP fiber's moisture absorbency is bad due to its close molecule structure. In order to solve this problem, this paper studied the application of plasma treatment to improve PP fiber's moisture absorbency.During the last decades, low-temperature plasma science and technology has developed very rapidly, and it also has been put in an important place in many countries. Due to its high efficiency in use of material and energy, production of no poisonous substance, and reaction ability which might not be realized, it is used in many industries such as electrical communication, surface modification, environment protection, clarification of waste water and gas, and so on. However, traditional low-temperature plasma induced under low pressure depends on vaccum devices, which limits the application of plasma technology to a large extent in industrial scale. Dielectric barrier discharge is effective in producing homogeneous plasma. Getting rid of the vacuum devices, it is especially suitable for the use in modern continuous massive production, and hence has a broad prospect. Therefore, it becomes the central concern in the intriguing field of low-temperature plasma. Some developed countries have made great efforts to carry out research and study on application of dielectric barrier discharge in the process of massive manufacture, in which the study must be deepened and broadened, and the same research must also be enforced in China.This paper studied the application of continuous treatment of polypropylene fiber by means of dielectric barrier discharge with the accumulation of previous research achievements in the laboratory. The favorable conditions of inducing homogenous glow discharge was studied, the effect of treatment on the moisture absorbency of polypropylene fiber was analyzed and discussed, the result of the treatment was very satisfactory.The polypropylene fiber was treated in plasma of Ar and air in the experiment. The moisture absorbency was improved greatly, and what's more, the moisture absorbency was permanent. The testing results indicated that by means of dielectric barrier discharge, there were two main factors in the surface modification of polypropylene fiber, namely etch and chemical reaction. Enlarging the material's surface and increasing the number of micro-cavities will change the surface properties. Besides, the treatment of plasma can bring a little of oxygen onto the material surface which main bond state is C=O.In summary, by means of dielectric barrier discharge, polypropylene fiber is continuously treated and the moisture absorbency of the treated polypropylene fiber is dramatically improved.