Cold plasma activation of continuously moving fiber glass strand

A few selectively activated products were made using 13.6 MHz radio frequency cold plasma induced gases; such as, argon, oxygen, ammonia, Freon{trademark}, and the 30:70 mixture of Freon{trademark} and oxygen. Surface wetting force measurements of random filaments drawn from the activated strands were made using a Wilhelmy Balance. These measurements indicated that chemical modifications of filaments had indeed occurred on all the filaments drawn either from the interior or the surface of the activated strand bundle. In some cases, Ion Scattering Spectrometry was used at Pennsylvania State University to confirm that surface modification of the fiber glass surface had, in fact, taken place during cold plasma activation. While argon and ammonia induced plasma activation did not cause any strength degradation of Emery or organic size coated fibers, the oxygen and Freon{trademark} induced activation did. 16 refs., 7 figs., 3 tabs.