AVS 53rd International Symposium
    Plasma Science and Technology Wednesday Sessions
       Session PS2-WeA

Paper PS2-WeA2
Fluoropolymer Deposition and Polymer Fluorination by Atmospheric Pressure Glow Dielectric Barrier Discharges

Wednesday, November 15, 2006, 2:20 pm, Room 2011

Session: Atmospheric and Microplasmas
Presenter: F. Fanelli, University of Bari, Italy
Authors: F. Fanelli, University of Bari, Italy
F. Fracassi, University of Bari, Italy
R. d'Agostino, University of Bari, Italy
Correspondent: Click to Email
In this contribution we report our latest results on the PECVD of fluorocarbon thin films from glow dielectric barrier discharges (GDBDs) fed with He-C@sub 3@F@sub 6@ and He-C@sub 3@F@sub 8@-H@sub 2@ gas mixtures as well as on the fluorination of polymeric substrates by He-CF@sub 4@ GDBDs. The atmospheric plasma was generated in a parallel plate electrode configuration (5 mm gap) by applying an AC high voltage (< 4 kV@sub p-p@) in the frequency range 15 - 30 kHz. The effect of several process parameters (i.e. feed composition, frequency, voltage, etc.) was investigated inside the GDBD existence domain adequately evaluated by electrical measurements. Surface composition and structure were investigated through FTIR, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Water Contact Angle measurements (WCA) and Scanning Electron Microscopy. He-C@sub 3@F@sub 6@ fed GDBDs allowed to deposit fluorocarbon films with F/C ratio of 1.5 at a deposition rate up to 35 nm/min. The investigation of He-C@sub 3@F@sub 8@-H@sub 2@ fed GDBDs showed that it is possible to tune the F/C ratio from 1.5 to 0.7 and to change the cross-linking degree of the coatings by varying the hydrogen concentration in the feed. H@sub 2@ admission promotes the increase of the deposition rate that is maximum when the fluorocarbon-to-hydrogen ratio is close to 1. Preliminary results from fluorination of polypropylene (PP) and polyethyleneterephtalate (PET) substrates with He-CF@sub 4@ mixtures allowed to observe the grafting of fluorinated functionalities which increased the WCA values up to 115° and 109° for PP and PET, respectively. Results of optical emission spectroscopy investigation of the plasma phase will be also presented.