| AVS 59th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition | |
| Advanced Surface Engineering | Tuesday Sessions |
| Session SE+PS-TuA |
| Session: | Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas |
| Presenter: | F. Reniers, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium |
| Authors: | B. Nisol, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium A. Batan, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium A. Kakaroglou, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium M. Wadikar, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium G. Scheltjens, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium G. Van Assche, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium B. Van Mele, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium I. De Graeve, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium H. Terryn, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium F. Reniers, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
The influence of the chemical environment of an ester function on the plasma polymerization process and on the chemical structure of the deposited coating is investigated, and the consequences on the coatings properties (barrier and adhesion) are discussed. Allyl methacrylate (AMA), n-propyl methacrylate (nPMA) and propyl isobutyrate (PIB) containing respectively two, one and no double bonds were injected in a home made dielectric barrier discharge reactor. Argon was used as the main plasma gas, and the power of the discharge was varied from 30 to 80 W. The thickness of the deposited coating was determined by visible spectroscopic ellipsometry and allowed to calculate the deposition rate. The surface chemistry was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the bulk structure was analyzed by reflection – absorption infrared spectrometry (IRRAS). Differential scanning calorimetry was used to probe the remaining unreacted groups in the coating. The results evidence a great change in the polymerization rate that depends on the presence of the double bonds. Moreover, the concentration of ester groups at the surface of the coatings also depends on the surrounding double bonds present in the precursor. Indeed, whereas the relative amount of ester groups in poly-AMA remains stable when increasing the plasma power, it drops drastically for poly-PIB. A stabilization of the ester groups by the double bonds is suggested.
Acknowledgements: this work is part of the GREENCOAT project, financed by the Brussels Region, and by the IAP project “physical chemistry of plasma surface interactions”, funded by the Federal Government, Belgium.