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Surface degradation and hydrophobic recovery of polyolefins treated by air corona and nitrogen atmospheric pressure glow discharge
Author(s) -
Guimond Sébastien,
Wertheimer Michael R.
Publication year - 2004
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.21134
Subject(s) - contact angle , wetting , glow discharge , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , polyolefin , materials science , surface modification , polyethylene , polypropylene , atmospheric pressure , low density polyethylene , surface energy , corona discharge , composite material , chemical engineering , dielectric barrier discharge , degradation (telecommunications) , polymer chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemistry , dielectric , organic chemistry , plasma , oceanography , computer science , engineering , telecommunications , layer (electronics) , quantum mechanics , physics , optoelectronics , electrode , geology
The surface degradation and production of low molecular weight oxidized materials (LMWOM) on biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) and low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) films was investigated and compared for two different dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) treatment types, namely air corona and nitrogen atmospheric pressure glow discharge (N 2 APGD). Contact angle measurements, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses were performed in conjunction with rinsing the treated films in water. It is shown that N 2 APGD treatments of both polyolefins result in much less surface degradation, therefore, allowing for a significantly higher degree of functionalization and better wettability. Hydrophobic recovery of the treated films has also been studied by monitoring their surface energy (γ s ) over a period of time extending up to several months after treatment. Following both surface modification techniques, the treated polyolefin films were both found to undergo hydrophobic recovery; however, for N 2 APGD modified surfaces, γ s ceases to decrease after a few days and attains a higher stable value than in the case of air corona treated films. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 94: 1291–1303, 2004