• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.9-16
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• 2004

Silk fibers were subjected to argon and ethylene plasma treatments in order to improve the interfacial adhesion with polylactic acid (PLA). After the plasma surface treatment, the surface morphology and surface adhesion of silk fibers to the PLA resin were largely changed. Various plasma treatment conditions were used in this work: 10, 25, 50, 100 and 150 W of electric power, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 minutes of treatment time, and 10 and 50 sccm of a gas flow rate. The interfacial shear strength of plasma-treated Silk/PLA biocomposites was measured by a single fiber micro-droplet debonding test method. The result provided an optimal plasma treatment condition to obtain the improved interfacial adhesion in the Silk/PLA biocomposites.