Influence of air plasma modification power on surface properties of basalt fibers and basalt/poly(butylene succinate) adhesion

[Display omitted] •The effect of air plasma modification power on the surface properties of basalt fibers and basalt/poly(butylene succinate) adhesion was examined.•The wettability of plasma-treated groups dramatically improved.•The basalt/poly(butylene succinate) interfacial shear strength increased up to 39.6 % after plasma modification.•Tensile testing of single fibers showed no strength reduction after modification. In this study, basalt fibers were treated with air glow discharge plasma at the powers of 50, 100, 200, and 300 W to investigate the influence of plasma power on fiber surface treatment and basalt/poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) adhesion. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images showed rougher fiber surfaces when the plasma power was higher than 50 W. Water absorption measurement results demonstrated that the wettability of plasma-treated groups was significantly improved. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that the atomic ratio of O/C increased to 0.91, 1.05, 1.86, and 1.86 for the 50 W, 100 W, 200 W, and 300 W groups, respectively. Tensile testing results of single fibers showed no strength reduction after modification. Microbond pull-out test revealed an increase in the interfacial adhesion of up to 39.2 % between basalt fiber and PBS for the 300 W group. This study demonstrates that our air plasma treatment technique was effective in the modification process for improving the basalt/PBS interfacial adhesion, where the selection of appropriate plasma treatment power was critical.