Oxygen plasma is widely employed for modification of polymer surfaces. Plasma treatment process is a convenient procedure that is also environmentally friendly. This study reports the effects of oxygen plasma treatment on the surface properties of poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide) (PPTA) fibers. The surface characteristics before and after oxygen plasma treatment were analyzed by XPS, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and dynamic contact angle analysis (DCAA). It was found that oxygen plasma treatment introduced some new polar groups (O-C O) on the fiber surface, increased the fiber surface roughness and changed the surface morphologies obviously by plasma etching and oxidative reactions. It is also shown that the fiber surface wettability was improved significantly by oxygen plasma treatment.

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Interfacial adhesion between the fiber and the matrix in a composite is a primary factor for stress transfer from the matrix to the fiber. In this study, oxygen plasma treatment method was applied to modify the fiber surface for improving interfacial adhesion of aramid fiber-reinforced poly(phthalazinone ether sulfone ketone) (PPESK) composite. Composite interfacial adhesion properties were determined by interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) using a short-beam bending test. The composite interfacial adhesion mechanism was discussed by SEM. The changes of chemical composition and wettability for plasma-treated fiber surfaces stored in air as long as 10 days were investigated by XPS and dynamic contact angle analysis (DCAA), respectively. Results indicated that oxygen plasma treatment was an effective method for improving interfacial adhesion; plasma-treated fiber surface suffered aging effects during storage in air.