Effect of the Corona Discharge Treatment of Polyester Fabrics on their Adhesive Properties

This paper presents the results of studies carried out at the Textile Research Institute, Lodz, Poland with the use of original experimental equipment for the generation and application of corona discharge. The construction of this generator was described in our previous paper It was found that the treatment of polyester fibres/fabrics with corona discharge brings about some significant changes, both in the physical and chemical structures of the surface layer which results in considerable changes in the technological and performance properties of textile fabrics. Changes in adhesive properties are of the greatest importance and their range depends on the process conditions of the treatment used especially on the unit energy of modification, the properties of the fibres modified, the environment in which the discharges occur and the constructional features of the generator The test results presented concern changes in the physical state of the surface layer measured by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The free surface energy and contact angle were assessed by tensiometric measurements. The wettability of fibres and the chemical structure of the surface layer were also tested. The molar oxygen to carbon ratio (O/C) and the concentration of functional groups containing oxygen were measured by the techniques of photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray micro-analysis. The changes occurring in the technological properties of polyester fabrics, especially the forces of delamination of the coat layers and the quality of polymeric coat bonding, resulting from the corona treatment are also presented. It was found that any change in the charge sign on the activated fabric resulted in an almost double increase in the delamination force.