Filtering nonwovens produced with melt-blown technology are one of the most basic materials used in the construction of respiratory protective equipment (RPE) against harmful aerosols, including bio- and nanoaerosols. The improvement of their filtering properties can be achieved by the development of quasi-permanent electric charge on the fibres. Usually corona discharge method is utilized for this purpose. In the presented study, it was assumed that the low-temperature plasma treatment could be applied as an alternative method for the manufacturing of conventional electret nonwovens for the RPE construction. Low temperature plasma treatment of polypropylene nonwovens was carried out with various process gases (argon, nitrogen, oxygen or air) in a wide range of process parameters (gas flow velocity, time of treatment and power supplied to the reactor electrodes). After the modification, nonwovens were evaluated in terms of filtration efficiency of paraffin oil mist. The stability of the modification results was tested after 12 months of storage and after conditioning at elevated temperature and relative humidity conditions. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy and ATR-IR spectroscopy were used to assess changes in surface topography and chemical composition of the fibres. The modification of melt-blown nonwovens with nitrogen, oxygen and air plasma did not result in a satisfactory improvement of the filtration efficiency. In case of argon plasma treatment, up to 82% increase of filtration efficiency of paraffin oil mist was observed in relation to untreated samples. This effect was stable after 12 months of storage in normal conditions and after thermal conditioning in (70 ± 3)°C for 24 h. The use of low-temperature plasma treatment was proven to be a promising improvement direction of filtering properties of nonwovens used for the protection of respiratory tract against harmful aerosols.

In this work, the change of the structure and microhardness of Ti6Al4V titanium alloy after remelting and remelting with SiC alloing by electric arc welding (GTAW method) was studied. The current intensity equal 100 A and fixed scan speed rate equal 0,2 m/min has been used to remelting surface of the alloy. Change of structure were investigated by optical and scanning electron microscopy. Microhardness test showed, that the remelting of the surface does not change the hardness of the alloy. Treated by GTAW SiC alloying leads to the formation of hard (570 HV0, 1) surface layer with a thickness of 2 mm. The resulting surface layer is characterized by diverse morphology alloyed zone. The fracture of alloy after conventional heat treatment, similarly to fracture after remelting with GTAW is characterized by extremely fine dimples of plastic deformation. In the alloyed specimens the intergranular and crystalline fracture was identified.

The effect of plasma-radical change on the surface properties of Zn-Mg-Al ternary-alloy-coated steel sheets during atmospheric-pressure (AP) plasma treatment using different process gases: O ₂, N ₂, and compressed air was investigated. The plasma-induced radicals promoted the formation of chemical particles on the surface of the Zn-Mg-Al coating, thereby increasing the surface roughness. The surface energy was calculated using the Owen-Wendtgeometric equation. Contact angle measurements indicated that the surface free energy of the alloy sheets increased upon AP plasma treatment. The surface properties of the Zn-Mg-Al coating changed more significantly in the order air > O ₂ > N ₂ gas, indicating that the plasma radicals facilitated the carbonization and hydroxylation of the Mg and Al components during the AP plasma treatment.