Selective Plasma Etching of Polyphenolic Composite in O₂/Ar Plasma for Improvement of Material Tracking Properties

Abstract

Compositing with suitable fillers is a common strategy to improve the electrical insulation properties of polymer materials, which is limited by the carbonization of protruding surface polymer. To resolve this, we performed an Ar/O 2 plasma etching on glass-filled polyphenolic composite to uncover the fillers by selective removal of the surface polymer. Exposure of the glass fillers increased the performance level up to 65%, which enabled the material to be used as insulator for commercial applications. Plasma diagnostics with probe measurements and emission spectroscopy revealed that the etching rate was mostly influenced by the neutral oxygen atom density rather than O 2 or Ar ions. Additionally, Ar content in the reactor chamber could control the densities of species, i.e., neutral oxygen density, and thereby polymer etching rate.

A review of plasma-assisted catalytic conversion of gaseous carbon dioxide and methane into value-added platform chemicals and fuels

“…For instance, the energy released during the recombination of 2 atomic oxygen to form molecular oxygen is estimated to be around 5 eV. 144 Recombination of various species in the gaseous phase is well presented in literature and is of greater importance in catalyst free activation of CH 4 and CO 2 . 113,139,145,146 However, the recombination on the surface of a solid material is largely influenced by its surface recombination coefficient ( γ ).…”

Characterization of surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) based on PI/Al2O3 nanocomposite

“…When the aging time was further increased to 30 h, no obvious change could be found compared to the case of 10 h, illustrating that once the surface Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles were accumulated, they could continuously resist the plasma discharge. Similarly, preferential etching of polymer over the inorganic phase has also been applied in other research fields . For example, He/O 2 atmospheric pressure plasma was used to selectively etch cellulose fibers and any internal sizing agents, the inorganic fillers (calcite) were exposed and the micro‐ and nano‐scale topography was enhanced, this process was a prerequisite for obtaining superhydrophobic paper .…”

“…Low pressure O 2 plasma was used to selective etch glass filled polyphenolics, the glass fillers were uncovered and tracking resistance properties were improved . The same composite were further selectively etched by O 2 /Ar plasma in order to study the plasma processing mechanisms, the optimization of plasma parameters, and to increase the etching efficiency with controlled surface temperature …”

White paper on the future of plasma science and technology in plastics and textiles

“…At atmospheric pressure, plasma deposition of an aerosol of the colloid produced thin films of nanotubes with good conductivity, suggesting that it may be possible to deposit composite coatings following a similar approach. Plasma etching can also be used to selectively remove the carbonized top polymer layer of composite layers and expose the underlying filler of the composite films to enhance their electrical performance …”