The surface of an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene yarn is activated at a winding speed of 44 m/min.
The surface activation consists of the deposition of a nanometer-scale polar functional plasma polymer film.
A modified wire coating process allows applying a thermoplastic sheath on the activated yarn at a speed of 40 m/min.
The hybrid yarn thus obtained lends itself as base material for the development of ultra-light composites.
The fully-thermoplastic material shows superior tensile properties with respect to other types of fiber-reinforced composites.