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Oxygen‐plasma‐treated polypropylene interfaces with air, water, and epoxy resins: Part I. Air and water
Author(s) -
Occhiello E.,
Morra M.,
Morini G.,
Garbassi F.,
Humphrey P.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1991.070420228
Subject(s) - contact angle , wetting , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , surface energy , polymer , polypropylene , materials science , oxygen , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , epoxy , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
Oxygen plasma treatment of polypropylene (PP) surfaces led to introduction of oxygencontaining functionalities, with consequent improvement of surface wettability. A combination of X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), static secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SSIMS), and contact angle measurements (water‐in‐air and air‐in‐water) allowed us to characterize the behavior of the treated surface in contact with air (low‐energy surface) and water (high‐energy surface). The treated surface showed the tendency to rearrange itself to minimize its interfacial energy. When contacted with air (low‐energy surface), polar groups were buried away from the polymer/air interface, while in contact with water (high‐energy surface) polar groups remained at the polymer/water interface. When contacted with air, the polymer surface layer rearranged by macromolecular motions within itself, since interdiffusion with the bulk polymer seems forbidden. These motions are thermally activated and it was possible to obtain an apparent activation energy (58.1 kJ/mol) close to those reported for other vinyl polymers.