Increasing the Hydrophobicity of a PP Film Using a Helium/CF4 DBD Treatment at Atmospheric Pressure

Abstract

Plasma surface modification is widely used to tailor the surface properties of polymeric materials. Most treatments are performed using low pressure plasma systems, but recently, atmospheric dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) have appeared as interesting alternatives. Therefore, in this paper, an atmospheric He + CF 4 DBD is used to increase the hydrophobicity of a polypropylene (PP) film. The surface characterization of the PP film is performed using contact angle measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Results show that the hydrophobic properties of the polymer films are greatly enhanced after plasma treatment as evidenced by an increased contact angle. The incorporation of fluorine on the surface is significant (45 at%), demonstrating the ability of the used DBD set-up to generate fluorine-containing functional groups on the PP surface.

Surface Modification of Hydrophobic PMMA Intraocular Lens by the Immobilization of Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate for Improving Application in Ophthalmology

“…Recently, dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment operated at atmospheric pressure has attracted increasing interests because it offers a more flexible, reliable, less expensive and continuous way in surface modification than conventional low pressure plasma [15][16][17][18][19]. More importantly, up to date, the surface modification of PMMA IOL has not succeed in improving blood compatibility and reducing cells proliferation together.…”

Effect of humid air exposure between successive helium plasma treatments on PET foils

“…In the past decades, plasma treatment of polymers has been extensively studied using different types of non-thermal plasmas operating at low or atmospheric pressure [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. However, nowadays, atmospheric pressure plasma sources [4,5,25,26] are predominantly studied since the polymer industry requires a surface modification technique which can be integrated in a continuous production or finishing line.…”

Inactivation of Escherichia coli Cells in Aqueous Solution by Atmospheric-Pressure N 2 , He, Air, and O 2 Microplasmas

“…The Lissajous figure of the microplasma array in water was obtained by measuring the charges across the capacitor (2.0 F) in series to ground and the applied voltage across the discharge device. The Lissajous figure is used to calculate the discharge power (17). Because the optical emission spectra of an atom or molecule contain specific information about the atom or molecule, they can be used to identify the major excited reactive species generated by the N 2 , He, air, or O 2 plasma in water.…”