Wettability of Commercial Polymers After Plasma Surface Treatment
P.L. Sant’Ana, J.R.R. Bortoleto, N.C. Da Cruz, R.P. Ribeiro, E.C. Rangel, and S.F. Durrant
In this work, the surface wettability of three commercial polymers – polyvinylchloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) – after surface treatment using SF6 or N2 plasmas were examined. Two techniques were tested, plasma immersion (PI) and plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII), in two distinct situations: with and without cooling of the sample holder. The water contact angle (WCA) measurements indicated that hydrophobic surfaces are obtained using fluorine plasmas (θ ~ 140º) and hydrophilic surfaces using nitrogen plasmas (θ ~ 0º). The high plasma temperature at an rf power of 100 W inhibits fluorine insertion, even in PIII. PI is more useful to obtain contact angles, which are stable for 30 days.
Keywords: Plasma immersion, plasma immersion ion implantation, commercial polymers, wettability