Variation of Electrical Conductivity with Frequency of Argon and Oxygen Plasmas Treated Jute

Md. Anisuzzaman Rassel, Md. Masroor Anwer

Jute fibers, a cellulosic and a environmentally friendly fibers, are treated with low temperature Argon (Ar) and Oxygen (O2) plasmas for 5, 10, and 15 minutes exposure times and at various discharge power levels of 50, 75 and 100 W with a flow rate of 0.2 L/min. Low temperature plasma treatment, a kind of environmentally friendly surface modification technique. The electrical conductivity of both raw and low temperature Ar and O2 plasmas treated jute as a function of frequency were studied at room temperature. It is observed for all the types of samples that the conductivity increases as the frequency increases with a lower slope in the low frequency region and with a higher slope in the higher frequency region. In addition, the conductivity decreases with the increase of plasma exposure time as well as discharge power. The conductivity increases with frequency due to the hopping mechanism of electrons.