Static secondary ion mass spectrometry (S-SIMS) analysis of atmospheric plasma treated polypropylene films

Abstract

Time-of-Flight (TOF) static secondary ion mass spectrometry (S-SIMS) was used to gain molecular information on the surface modifications introduced by plasma treatment of polypropylene (PP) films. A procedure using slotted electron microscopy grids was developed to deal with the charge build-up of samples with a thickness of about 30 mm. The surface composition was studied as a function of the plasma treatment time. A comparison of the mass spectra from untreated and treated PP showed significant differences of signal intensities of ions that could be specifically related to the presence of oxygen-containing species. #

Energy‐resolved depth profiling of metal‐polymer interfaces using dynamic quadrupole secondary ion mass spectrometry

“…Delcorte and co‐workers13, 14 proposed gold or silver metallization as a sample preparation procedure to improve the organic SIMS analysis. Boschmans et al 7. employed a nickel metal grid to surround the polymer surface by a conducting material, neutralizing the surface charge in the vicinity of the grid.…”

“…The non‐polar nature and the low surface tension of the polypropylene (PP) film impair the metal‐dielectric adhesion 5. This drawback is solved by different surface treatments such as corona discharge6 or plasma treatments7, 8 that improve the polymer adhesion properties by modification of the surface chemistry due to the generation of polar functional groups. Despite their good isolating properties, M‐BOPP films are susceptible to modifications in the metal‐polymer interface structure and composition, such as atmospheric corrosion, which may greatly decrease their functionality 9–11…”

SIMS investigation on the effect of the interstitial moisture in metallized polymer films

“…2 The most common surface treatments are corona discharge 3 or plasma treatments. [4][5][6] These treatments are aimed to modify the surface chemistry increasing the presence of polar functional groups such as hydroxyl-, carboxyl-(mainly COH, C]O and C-O) and amine-groups. [4][5][6] Typically, the metallization layer is composed of pure Al, Zn or an Al/Zn, with a thickness ranging between 10 and 100 nm.…”

“…[4][5][6] These treatments are aimed to modify the surface chemistry increasing the presence of polar functional groups such as hydroxyl-, carboxyl-(mainly COH, C]O and C-O) and amine-groups. [4][5][6] Typically, the metallization layer is composed of pure Al, Zn or an Al/Zn, with a thickness ranging between 10 and 100 nm. In the dual metallized capacitors, the most internal layer is constituted by the Al bed which acts as a seeding to improve the Zn adhesion to the surface.…”

“…Despite the number of studies concerning the analysis of polymers and interfaces, [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] few of them deals specifically with the analysis of metal-polymer interfaces in commercial products 14 or metallized film capacitors. [19][20][21] In recent works, 19,20 the use of dynamic secondary ion mass spectrometry (d-SIMS) for depth profiling analysis of metallized film capacitors has been reported.…”