Atmospheric pressure plasma treatment for enhancing the conducting properties of polypyrrole coated nylon fabric

The present study describes a method for plasma‐assisted in situ chemical polymerization of polypyrrole on nylon‐66 fabric to improve adhesion and conductivity of the polypyrrole coating. Plasma generated from various gas mixtures in dielectric barrier discharge were used to modify the surface of nylon‐66 fabric and investigated the influence of plasma on surface chemistry and morphology of nylon‐66 fabric. Polypyrrole was then deposited over this plasma pretreated nylon fabric by using oxidative chemical polymerization to get electrically conducting nylon fabric. Surface physical and chemical changes of plasma treated nylon‐66 fabric were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), wettability, attenuated total reflection‐Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR‐FTIR) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Effect of the plasma treatment on binding strength was analyzed by studying abrasion resistance and surface resistivity. Results showed that the strongest interfacial bonding and high conductivity were achieved for He+O2 plasma pretreated PPy coated nylon‐66 fabric. Surface functional groups such as CO, COH, COOH, and CONH were detected on plasma treated nylon‐66 fabric by XPS. These surface functional groups are responsible for the improved adhesion and conductivity of PPY coating on nylon fabric by 35% (up to 2500 abrasion cycles) and 50%, respectively.