Surface modification and characterizations of basalt fibers with non-thermal plasma

Atmospheric-pressure non-thermal plasmas have been increasingly promoted for polymer surface modification. In this paper, atmospheric-pressure plasmas of oxygen, argon, hydrogen and mixture gases of nitrogen and hydrogen were used to surface modification of basalt fibers in order to illuminate their chemical durability, surface active groups and roughness etc. The plasma-induced surface changes on morphologies and active groups were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results exhibited a remarkable increase in chemical stability and excellent adhesion, accompanied by extensive etching and by the implantation of both oxygen- and nitrogen-containing polar groups such as NH2, OH and so forth. Etching of oxygen was mainly a consequence of ion bombardment, yielding low molecular weight and roughness, while surface chemical modifications of mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen were mainly due to the action of neutral species on the plasma-activated basalt fiber surface. The possible formation mechanism of functional groups on the basalt fiber surface was presented.