IUVSTA 15th International Vacuum Congress (IVC-15), AVS 48th International Symposium (AVS-48), 11th International Conference on Solid Surfaces (ICSS-11)
    Plasma Science Tuesday Sessions
       Session PS-TuP

Paper PS-TuP25
Surface Reactions of Polyethylene with Nitrogen Plasmas/Ion Beams

Tuesday, October 30, 2001, 5:30 pm, Room 134/135

Session: Plasma Deposition, Modeling, and Emerging Applications Poster Session
Presenter: A.J. Wagner, Johns Hopkins University
Authors: A.J. Wagner, Johns Hopkins University
S.R. Carlo, Johns Hopkins University
C. Vecitis, Johns Hopkins University
F. Reniers, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
H. Fairbrother, Johns Hopkins University
Correspondent: Click to Email
Nitrogen containing functionalities are often introduced into polymer surfaces to improve interfacial properties such as adhesion and biocompatibility. The process of nitrogenation at the molecular level has been probed by investigating the reactivity of polyethylene (PE) with N@sub2@@super+@ ions and N@sub2@ plasmas using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and contact angle measurements. XPS and ATR results indicate that a variety of different nitrogen groups are introduced during the interaction of nitrogen ion beams with PE, notably C-N, C=N, and CN moieties. These chemical modifications are also accompanied by changes in the surface roughness and frictional properties of the interface, as characterized by AFM. These results will be compared with related experiments carried out to determine the change in surface composition of PE as a result of nitrogen plasma and radical treatments. Titanium atoms have been deposited onto nitrogen modified PE interfaces by physical vapor deposition as a model for an industrial metallization process. The subsequent reactivity of the nitrogenated interfaces with titanium atoms will be discussed in terms of the formation of nitride and carbide species within the interfacial region. To further isolate the reactivity of specific functional groups in bulk polymeric substrates, results will also be presented on the reactivity of a CN terminated self-assembled monolayer with vapor phase titanium atoms.