Characterization of negative corona plasma discharge reactor using point-to-plane electrode configuration in atmospheric pressure and its application in the treatment of woven natural silk

Abstract

This research is aimed at obtaining the characteristics of negative corona plasma discharge with the presence and absence of woven natural silk and to figure out morphological alteration of woven natural silk by negative corona plasma discharge and water absorption characteristics of irradiated woven natural silk. The plasma reactor used employed multi point-to-plane electrode configuration using 100 electrodes. The reactor is connected to a high DC power supply with the point electrodes with spacing and the plane electrode varies from 0.6 to 3.0 cm. The silk sample has a dimension of (10 × 10) cm2. Plasma irradiations were performed with a varied duration that ranged from 5 to 30 minutes. Sample testing was performed using SEM and water drop test. SEM testing results also show damages on the fabric surface compared to non-irradiated fabric. Meanwhile, the water drop test results reveal that optimum absorption for woven natural silk is at a distance of 2.4 cm for 30-minute irradiation. These settings resulted in an average absorption time of 10.28 seconds, which is way faster than absorption for non-irradiated fabric, at 48.88 seconds.