| AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition | |
| Plasma Science and Technology Division | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session PS+SE-WeM |
| Session: | Atmospheric Plasma Processing and Micro Plasmas |
| Presenter: | Francois Reniers, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium |
| Authors: | S. Abou Rich, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium P. Leroy, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium N. Wehbe, Universiy of Namur, Belgium N. Avril, University of Namur, Belgium L. Houssiau, University of Namur, Belgium F. Reniers, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
In order to improve the adherence of a coating onto a polymer, the substrate surface must be properly functionalized. Plasma techniques are more and more used for that purpose. However, plasma treatments do not only modify the polymer surface, as active species can penetrate into its bulk.
In the present study, polyethylene samples are surface-functionalized by an atmospheric plasma torch, using argon and a mixture of argon-oxygen. The surface is characterized by dynamic water contact angle, atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The changes in the bulk of the polymer have been characterized using infrared spectrometry, angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ARXPS), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS).
It is shown that both plasma treatments (argon or argon-oxygen) lead to an increase in the hydrophilicity of the surface by the grafting of oxygen-containing polar functions. AFM reveals also a change in surface roughness induced by the plasma treatment, depending on the operational conditions. FTIR, ARXPS and SIMS evidenced that the plasma treatment also modifies a significant zone under the surface. The diffusion depth of oxygen as a function of the plasma parameters (power, treatment time, oxygen ratio in the gas phase) is determined.
The ageing of the plasma-modified polymers during storage in air is also studied