Study on Glow Discharge in One-Dimensional Transverse Non-uniform Electric Field and Surface Processing of Aramid Fabric

Using a staggered contact electrode structure, the conditions for and mechanism of uniform discharge in one-dimensional transverse non-uniform electric field and with aramid fiber (AF) as a dielectric barrier material were explored for the first time in this study. An atmospheric pressure glow discharge (APGD) plasma was generated, and the large-area and continuous processing of AF was achieved. Through the electric field simulation as well as scanning electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy tests, it was found that the modification method of pressing the electrode closely to the AF could form the extremely strong electric field region of magnitude 1.444 × 10⁷ V/m under the premise of uniform discharge. The highly active plasma generated could not only effectively increase the surface roughness of the treated material, but also introduce nitrogen functional groups which can’t be introduced through traditional air plasma. As found through the contact angle measurement, the contact angle was greatly decreased (by 52.3%) after being treated with 12.05 W/cm³ of plasma for 10 s, indicating that APGD plasma can achieve a good modification effect and high modification efficiency at low discharge power density.