Gas flow around and through textile structures during plasma treatment

An experimental plasma reactor has been developed that enables the study of aspects related to the flow of a gas around and into textile structures while they are treated in a plasma at reduced pressure. A selection of experiments draws attention to the fact that even at reduced pressure a textile forms a barrier for a gas containing plasma-created species, resulting in an 'edge effect'. It is also shown how basic variations in the structure of a textile influence the penetration of the treatment effect. The ratio of textile thickness to its porosity is proposed as a simple rule of thumb for assessing the effect of penetration and etching efficiency.