Reactive-ion etching of nylon fabric meshes using oxygen plasma for creating surface nanostructures

- Reactive-ion etching (RIE) is employed to nylon 6,6 fabrics to achieve surface texturing and improved wettability.
- FTIR spectra of the treated samples exhibited decreased transmittance of amide and carboxylic acid groups due to etching.
- Etching is enhanced for higher power plasma treatments and for samples with larger mesh sizes.
- Decreased crystallinity was achieved after plasma treatment.
- Higher power induced higher negative DC self-bias voltage on the samples that favored anisotropic and aggressive etching.