Investigating the effect of water‐mixing nitrogen atmospheric pressure plasma jet on polyether‐ether‐ketone and time stability under different conditions

Abstract

Possessing excellent properties including good biocompatibility, high strength, and stiffness, polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) has significant application values in medical and industrial fields. However, the relatively poor wettability and low adhesion limit its further applications. Atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) has been utilized for adjusting PEEK properties, but better hydrophilization effect and time stability after treatment are still urgently needed. In this paper, we employ a water-mixing nitrogen (N 2 H 2 O) APPJ to process PEEK, and surface wettability can be effectively improved (contact angle~18 within 2 min, distance between sample and nozzle outlet: 10 mm) without inducing obvious microstructure damages. Additionally, after storing for 40 days, the sample treated by N 2 H 2 O APPJ also possessed better wettability (~54) compared with that treated by N 2 APPJ (~65). On the basis of this lowdamage and high-efficient modification method, we perform aging experiments under different conditions (different temperatures 25, −10 C; and low vacuum condition: 50 kPa) to determine a relatively optimum storing condition for this method. The experiment results indicate that low temperature and vacuum are conducive to retaining the plasma-induced wettability (~34). The treatment method and storing conditions for PEEK presented here may facilitate the application of PEEK in various fields.

Adhesion Properties and Stability of Polar Polymers Treated by Air Atmospheric Pressure Plasma

“…Additionally, amorphous polymer structures may undergo a higher rate of modification in a reactive environment compared to semicrystalline ones. Also, polar oxygen-bearing polymer structures may demonstrate a limited increase in their surface adhesion-related properties and an accelerated tendency to post-treatment recovery [ 5 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Considering these factors, this study aims to explore the complex relationship between these structural parameters and the extent and limitations of plasma-induced surface modification compared to nonpolar polymers [ 23 ].…”