Influence of Chemical Precleaning on the Plasma Treatment Efficiency of Aluminum by RF Plasma Pencil

Abstract

This paper is aimed to show the influence of initial chemical pretreatment prior to subsequent plasma activation of aluminum surfaces. The results of our study showed that the state of the topmost surface layer (i.e. the surface morphology and chemical groups) of plasma modified aluminum significantly depends on the chemical precleaning. Commonly used chemicals (isopropanol, trichlorethane, solution of NaOH in deionized water) were used as precleaning agents. The plasma treatments were done using a radio frequency driven atmospheric pressure plasma pencil developed at Masaryk University, which operates in Ar, Ar/O2 gas mixtures. The effectiveness of the plasma treatment was estimated by the wettability measurements, showing high wettability improvement already after 0.3 s treatment. The effects of surface cleaning (hydrocarbon removal), surface oxidation and activation (generation of OH groups) were estimated using infrared spectroscopy. The changes in the surface morphology were measured using scanning electron microscopy. Optical emission spectroscopy measurements in the near-to-surface region with temperature calculations showed that plasma itself depends on the sample precleaning procedure.

Physical Properties of Fe3Si Films Coated through Facing Targets Sputtering after Microwave Plasma Treatment

“…Many researchers have reported that the physical characteristics of films can be altered via the usage of plasma treatment procedures [17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Plasma treatment is a procedure that changes the material's surface, leading to a change in roughness [17][18][19][20][21][22].…”

“…Many researchers have reported that the physical characteristics of films can be altered via the usage of plasma treatment procedures [17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Plasma treatment is a procedure that changes the material's surface, leading to a change in roughness [17][18][19][20][21][22]. Plasma ions can chemically react with the film's surface and can also physically bombard some particles or contaminant from the surface, both resulting in the modification of the surface and wetting properties, including an improvement of film surface quality [17][18][19][20][21][22][23].…”

“…Plasma treatment is a procedure that changes the material's surface, leading to a change in roughness [17][18][19][20][21][22]. Plasma ions can chemically react with the film's surface and can also physically bombard some particles or contaminant from the surface, both resulting in the modification of the surface and wetting properties, including an improvement of film surface quality [17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Among the conventional plasma, argon (Ar) plasma possesses a set of intriguing characteristics [19][20][21][22][23].…”

“…Plasma ions can chemically react with the film's surface and can also physically bombard some particles or contaminant from the surface, both resulting in the modification of the surface and wetting properties, including an improvement of film surface quality [17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Among the conventional plasma, argon (Ar) plasma possesses a set of intriguing characteristics [19][20][21][22][23]. Ar plasma treatment roughens the surface of the material and can also control surface oxidation, due to the fact that the plasma can either break the oxygen bond with the metal surface or generate an active hydroxyl group on the surface [20,21].…”

“…Among the conventional plasma, argon (Ar) plasma possesses a set of intriguing characteristics [19][20][21][22][23]. Ar plasma treatment roughens the surface of the material and can also control surface oxidation, due to the fact that the plasma can either break the oxygen bond with the metal surface or generate an active hydroxyl group on the surface [20,21]. It has been reported that Ar plasma can shift the wetting state of materials from hydrophobic to hydrophilic [21][22][23].…”