If the surface of the carbon fiber composite is treated by plasma, then the thermoplastic resin-rich layer can be decomposed when ions impact the surface [17] and [18]. Therefore, the polymer resin can be selectively etched from the surface without serious damage to the composite such that the electrical surface resistance of the composite is effectively reduced.
In this study, a low-pressure plasma treatment was carried out in a cylindrical chamber in which the carbon fiber composites were placed for 3 min of residence at 100 W. Oxygen was employed as the activation gas with a chamber pressure of 0.3 torr. The gas flow rate was set to 60 sccm