| AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Plasma Science and Technology | Thursday Sessions |
| Session PS+SE-ThA |
| Session: | Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Processing; Fundamental and Applications |
| Presenter: | Fiorenza Fanelli, Institute of Inorganic Methodologies and Plasmas - National Research Council, Italy |
| Authors: | F. Fanelli, Institute of Inorganic Methodologies and Plasmas - National Research Council, Italy P. Bosso, University of Bari ‘Aldo Moro’, Italy A.M. Mastrangelo, University of Bari ‘Aldo Moro’, Italy F. Fracassi, University of Bari ‘Aldo Moro’, Italy |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Over the last decade there have been considerable advances in the utilization of atmospheric pressure cold plasmas for thin film deposition. Intense research efforts have been made to develop a large variety of processes which exploit different types of atmospheric pressure discharges for the direct and remote deposition of thin films from monomers in gas, vapor and aerosol form [1]. However diagnostic studies of the plasma chemistry and mechanistic investigations of thin film growth are still scarce, while being crucial prerequisite for further process optimization. The research should be addressed to detect the film precursors, to identify the main reaction pathways (both homogeneous and heterogeneous processes) and to clarify the plasma-surface interaction.
In this contribution, our studies on thin film deposition by dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) will be presented to provide insights into the chemistry of atmospheric pressure plasma processes. Examples discussed will include the investigation of the role of the monomer chemical structure in the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of organosilicon coatings from different methyldisiloxanes [2], and the study of the influence of air and water vapor feed gas impurities in the deposition of fluorocarbon coatings from argon-hexafluoropropene fed DBDs [3]. Our recent work on the deposition and characterization of organic-inorganic hydrocarbon polymer/ZnO nanoparticles nanocomposite coatings by a DBD fed with helium and the aerosol of a dispersion of oleate-capped ZnO nanoparticles in hydrocarbon solvents will be presented [4]. Results from the plasma jet co-deposition of acrylic acid and ethylene towards water-stable coatings containing carboxylic functionalities will be also shown.
The overall deposition mechanisms will be outlined on the basis of the results from the chemical and morphological characterization of the coatings, the optical emission spectroscopy investigation of the plasma phase, the analysis of the exhaust gas by means of gaschromatography-mass spectrometry. The latter is a powerful indirect diagnostic technique of the gas phase which allows the assessment of the monomer depletion and the quali-quantitative determination of stable byproducts formed by plasma activation.
[1] F. Massines, C. Sarra-Bournet, F. Fanelli, N. Naudé, N. Gherardi, Plasma Process. Polym., 9, 1041 (2012).
[2] F. Fanelli, S. Lovascio, R. d’Agostino, F. Fracassi, Plasma Process. Polym., 9, 1132 (2012).
[3] F. Fanelli, R. d’Agostino, F. Fracassi, Plasma Process. Polym., 8, 557 (2011).
[4] F. Fanelli, A. M. Mastrangelo, F. Fracassi, Langmuir, 30, 857 (2014).