No abstract

a Part 2: cf. ref. [11] In this work, an experimental investigation of fluorine gas (F 2 ) plasma treatment of polypropylene (PP) film reveals the evolution of PP fluorination. Surface analysis of fluorinated PP surfaces describes a surface modification process that is initially quite rapid but slows sharply as the fluorination progresses. The fluorination reaction occurs more rapidly at the PP film surface and evidence of a treatment gradient is seen in the ESCA sampling depth of 10 nm. The increasingly fluorinated surface becomes less reactive to the plasma chemistry and develops a fully fluorinated, cross-linked surface layer that eventually extends the full ESCA sampling depth.

IntroductionThe fluorination of the surface layers of hydrocarbon polymers modifies the wetting properties of the polymer by decreasing the surface energy and increasing hydrophobicity. [1][2][3] The fluorination process usually entails the removal of hydrogen from the hydrocarbon polymer backbone, forming an alkyl site, and the passivation of the alkyl site with a fluorine atom. [4] As most hydrocarbon polymers are heat sensitive, it is desirable for the fluorination to take place at low temperatures. As such, low-pressure, non-equilibrium plasmas are attractive options for this surface treatment.In low-pressure plasmas sustained in fluorine-containing feedstock gases, electron-impact reactions (mainly by dissociative excitation or attachment) produce

No abstract

No abstract