A Convenient Method to Realize Large-Area APGD for Wool Surface Modification

In this paper, a method of realizing large-area atmospheric pressure glow discharge (APGD) plasma in ambient air was investigated. The dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) type was adopted, and the electrode arrangement of a tubular array was designed to achieve large-area APGD (about 1000×60 mm
²
). Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was used to identify active particles and calculate gas temperature. The results show that the seed electrons can react with N
₂
, O
₂
, and H
₂
O in the air to produce N
₂
(C-B), N
₂
⁺
, OH, and O
₃
. The gas temperature was calculated to be 410 K-514 K, which is suitable for low-added-value materials treatment. The homogeneity of the plasma temperature was also verified by an infrared camera. Furthermore, a prototype for the wool surface modification was also investigated. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs and wettability test were adopted, which shows that the plasma can damage the squamae of the natural wool to improve the wettability greatly without burning the wool fiber.