Surface properties of polymers treated with tetrafluoromethane plasma

Abstract

Polymer films of poly(ethylene terephthalate), polypropylene, and cellophane were surface treated with tetrafluoromethane plasma under different time, power, and pressure conditions. Contact angles for water and methylene iodide and surface energy were analyzed with a dynamic contact angle analyzer. The stability of the treated surfaces was investigated by washing them with water or acetone, followed by contact angle measurements. The plasma treatments decreased the surface energies to 2-20 mJ/m 2 and consequently enhanced the hydrophobicity and oleophobicity of the materials. The treated surfaces were only moderately affected after washing with water and acetone, indicating stable surface treatments. The chemical composition of the material surfaces was analyzed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and revealed the incorporation of about 35-60 atomic % fluorine atoms in the surfaces after the treatments. The relative chemical composition of the C ls spectra's showed the incorporation of {CHF{ groups and highly nonpolar {CF 2 { and {CF 3 groups in the surfaces and also {CH 2 {CF 2 { groups in the surface of polypropylene. The hydrophobicity and oleophobicity improved with increased content of nonpolar {CF 2 {, {CF 3 , and {CH 2 {CF 2 { groups in the surfaces. For polyester and polypropylene, all major changes in chemical composition, advancing contact angle, and surface energy are attained after plasma treatment for one minute, while longer treatment time is required for cellophane.

Membrane Distillation: Principle, Advances, Limitations and Future Prospects in Food Industry

“…Table 3. Contact angle values of water on some materials at ambient temperature (Khayet & Matsuura, 2011;Sigurdsson & Shishoo, 1997) different materials in water at ambient temperature. For example, the parameter measured on PTFE or PVDF membrane surface was 108° or 107°, respectively (Curcio et al, 2010;Hwang et al, 2011;Tomaszewska, 2000).…”

Multi-end functionalised polymer additives synthesised by living anionic polymerisation—the impact of additive molecular structure upon surface properties

“…However, since in many cases only the surface layer of a product needs to possess these specific properties, a much more efficient approach involves the use of a relatively 50 cheap commodity polymer to provide the desirable, mechanical bulk properties and modification of the surface to introduce the desired surface properties. Examples of current methodologies for fluorinating polymer surfaces include plasma treatments, [1][2][3][4] wet chemical modification [5][6][7] and the 55 application of polymeric surface coatings. 8,9 , although all of these approaches tend to suffer from (at least one of) being expensive, restricted to batch processing, safety hazards or the generation of large volumes of solvent waste.…”

Studies Regarding the Increase in Hydrophilicity of Some Textile Fabrics through Treatment by Cold Plasma and Grafting with Vinyl Monomers

“…The following characteristics can be modified by plasma treatments under different conditions: hydrophilicity, dye ability, stain resistance and conductivity [10][11][12][13][14][15].…”