Abstract: In order to improve the desizing effect and environmental protection, the polyacrylate size agent was removed from PET fabrics by the combination of He/O2 atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) and conventional wet desizing. The influence of plasma treatment time on desizing effect and the influence of plasma pre-treatment on wet desizing effect were studied. And the influence of plasma treatment on the chemical components on the size film surface was also studied. The results of XPS analysis indicate that oxygen-based functional groups increased for the plasma treated polyacrylate sized fabrics, which greatly improve the hydrophilcity of polyacrylate film. The percent desizing ratio (PDR) results show that with an increase of plasma treatment time, the desizing effect is significantly improved. More than 99% PDR was achieved after 65s plasma treatment followed by a 5min NaHCO3 desizing. Compared to conventional wet desizing, plasma treatment could significantly reduce desizing time.

Key words: atmospheric pressure plasma jet, polyacrylate, desizing, PET fabric