In this work, the effects of atmospheric oxygen plasma treatment of carbon fibers on mechanical interfacial properties of carbon fibers-reinforced epoxy matrix composites was studied. The surface properties of the carbon fibers were determined by acid/base values, Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses. Also, the crack resistance properties of the composites were investigated in critical stress intensity factor (KIC), and critical strain energy release rate mode II (GIIC) measurements. As experimental results, FT-IR of the carbon fibers showed that the carboxyl/ester groups (C=O) at 1632 cm-1 and hydroxyl group (O-H) at 3450 cm-1 were observed for the plasma treated carbon fibers, and the treated carbon fibers had the higher O-H peak intensity than that of the untreated ones. The XPS results also indicated that the O1S/C1S ratio of the carbon fiber surfaces treated by the oxygen plasma led to development of oxygen-containing functional groups. The mechanical interfacial properties of the composites, including KIC (critical stress intensity factor) and GIIC (critical strain energy release rate mode II), were also improved for the oxygen plasma-treated carbon fibersreinforced composites. These results could be explained that the oxygen plasma treatment played an important role to increase interfacial adhesions between carbon fibers and epoxy matrix resins in our composite system.

Activity of the noncontacted low temperature atmospheric pressure surface discharged plasma (LASDP) converts stable gas to ionized gas known as discharge or plasma. This ionized gas exhibits the antimicrobial activity. We examined the effects of 3 different storage treatments for 80 days on ‘Setoka’ : ambient storage (AS), low-tempperature storage (LTS), and low-temperature atmospheric pressure plasma+low-tempperature storage (PLTS). Total soluble solids showed no the significant differences between the 3 treatments. Acidity gradually decreased, and was 0.5% under AS after 30 days of storage. Fruit firmness increased by a few percent until 40 days of storage. Weight loss in AS was higher than for other treatments. After 80 days of storage, the decay ratio was significantly low in PLTS treatment: (AS, 50.5%; LTS, 5.6%; PLTS, 1.9%). In AS treatment, 73% of the rotten fruits were infected particularly with green and blue mold; however, only 1% of the rotten fruits were infected in case of PLTS treatment. In conclusion, LASDP treatment can pre