Post-discharge cleaning at atmospheric pressure of oxidized iron foils
rinsed by acetone and methanol is studied by XPS. The influence of the
temperature (T<450 K) and the UV photons on cleaning is negligible. When
pure rare gases (He, Ne, Ar) are used, metastable species in post-discharge
are transported downstream the plasma and relax their energy on the surface.
C-C bonds are mainly removed by this process. When nitrogen is added to the
rare gas (from 0 to 4.6 vol.% ), a selective influence on the etching
process of the surface contaminants by nitrogen atoms is observed. The
removal kinetics of chemical groups analysed by XPS is determined by using
an exponential decay function corresponding to a first-order abstraction
process. The decrease of C(1s) in N-C, O(1s) in N-C-O and N(1s) XPS peaks is
correlated with the nitrogen atom concentration in the carrier gas.
Reactions between nitrogen atoms and specific carbon containing groups occur
(probably C-OH bonds of methanol). Stronger bonds like C=O (probably from
acetone) are not removed by the post-discharge.