SBIR Phase I: Surface Modification of Nonwovens Via Plasma Processing

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段的研究项目将开发一种低成本的等离子体处理方法，能够增加静电纺纳米纤维和基材之间的粘合强度，以及改变纳米纤维的功能，以开发各种应用的功能性纺织材料。基材的表面改性将使用常压等离子体进行，该等离子体基于惰性、氧和含氮的气体混合物。加工参数和气体混合物的选择将根据所处理的聚合物表面所需的官能团进行。不同的工艺参数（射频、射频功率、气体流速、气体成分、电极分离等）将被改变，以与最终的材料特性（润湿性、可粘合性、可印刷性、附着力、表面积等）相关联。根据其表面功能，所开发的材料可用于多种应用，包括用于抗菌活性功能化的医用布；经疏水性和亲水性改造的服装；具有细胞附着功能的医疗植入物和贴片；以及类似的小众应用。这项技术的广泛影响/商业潜力可能导致纺织材料的处理，使其在相反的一面显示不同的功能（例如，涂有疏水纳米纤维的亲水性织物，反之亦然）。该技术的成功将进一步推动纳米纤维和等离子体技术的广泛应用，而无需投资更换配套设备（例如，在现有过滤设备中使用纳米纤维基过滤器）。等离子体技术的成功使用可以进一步消除我们对其他技术（如湿化学）的依赖，这些技术会对环境造成破坏。该项目的成功将提高纺织材料质量，推进纳米纤维加工技术，允许在不相容的基材上纺丝聚合纳米纤维网，并刺激新市场的增长。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I research project will develop a low cost plasma treatment methodology capable of increasing adhesive strength between electrospun nanofibers and substrates, as well as change the functionality of nanofibers to develop functional textile material for various applications. The surface modification of substrates will be carried out using atmospheric pressure plasma based on inert, oxygen, and nitrogen containing gas mixtures. The choice of processing parameters and gas mixtures will be made according to the desired functional groups on treated polymer surfaces. The different processing parameters radio frequency (RF), RF power, gas flow rate, gas composition, separation of the electrodes, etc.) will be altered to correlate with the final material properties (wettability, wickability, printability, work of adhesion, surface area, etc.). The developed material can be used for a number of applications depending on the surface functionalities, including medical cloths functionalized for antimicrobial activity; apparel clothing altered for hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity; medical implants and patches capable functionalized for cell attachment; and similar niche applications. The broader impact/commercial potential from this technology could lead to textile materials which can be treated such that it shows different functionalities on opposite sides (e.g., a hydrophilic fabric coated with hydrophobic nanofibers, or vice versa.) The success of the technology will lead to further advancement in application of nanofiber and plasma technology to a wide variety of applications without needing investment to change supporting equipments (e.g., using nanofiber based filters in current filtration equipments). The successful use of plasma technology can further remove our dependence on alternate technologies (like wet chemistry) which has damaging environmental consequences. The success of this project will improve textile material quality, advance nanofiber processing technology, allow spinning polymeric nanofiber webs on incompatible substrates, and spur growth of new markets.