Electrical and optical properties of an argon plasma jet were characterized. In particular, effects of an additive gas, namely nitrogen or oxygen, on these properties were studied in detail. The plasma jet was found to be of a glow-like discharge, which scarcely changed upon the injection of an additive gas, either directly or through a glass capillary. Optical emission spectroscopy characterization revealed that excited argon atoms were the predominant active species in this plasma jet. Metastable argon atoms were highly quenched, and N2(C 3 u ) became the main energy carrier following nitrogen injection. When oxygen was added to the afterglow zone through a glass capillary, no significant quenching effect was observed and the number of oxygen atoms decreased with the increase in oxygen concentration. Finally, to demonstrate an application of this plasma jet, a high-density polyethylene surface was treated with argon, argon/nitrogen, and argon/oxygen plasmas.
In this study, a high-density polyethylene (HDPE, 5-mm-thick, 0.95 g/cm 3) surface was treated using an RF capacitive atmospheric pressure cold Ar plasma jet. By using this Ar plasma jet, a hydrophilic HDPE surface was formed during the plasma treatment. In particular, the effects of an additive gas (N2 or O2) on the HDPE surface treatment were investigated in detail. It was shown that the addition of N2 or O2 gas had an important influence on the HDPE surface treatment. Compared to pure Ar plasma treatment, a lower value of water contact angle (WCA) was obtained when a trace of N2 or O2 gas was added. It was also found that besides the quantities of active species in the plasma jet, the treatment temperature played an important role in the HDPE surface treatment. This is because surface molecular motion is not negligible when the treatment temperature is close to the melting point of the polymer.
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