Study of plasma-etched and laser-irradiated polyamide materials

Abstract.

Surface morphological structures of the Low Temperature Plasma (LTP) and UV Excimer Laser treated polyamide materials were investigated. The effects of different parameters were studied by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). For LTP treatment, different non-polymerizing gases (oxygen, argon), discharge power and exposure time were selected as treatment parameters. For Laser treatment, high-fluence (above ablation threshold), low-fluence (below ablation threshold) and number of pulses were studied. High-fluence laser treatment gives the most distinct ripple-like structures on the surface of polyamide and these structures are more obvious when the number of pulses increases. Low-fluence treated polyamide develops some stripes of sub-micron size within a narrow fluence window. On the other hand, oxygen and argon plasma also gives ripple-like structures but with smaller dimensions than those due to high-fluence laser treatment. Although the morphological modification features on the polyamide fiber surface developed under laser and LTP treatments are not identical, they have certain similarity.