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Photoinitiator‐Free Plasma‐Induced Polymerization and Microstructuring of Acrylate‐Based Coatings on 3D Substrates
Author(s) -
Elsner Christian,
BoularesPender Alya,
Hähnel Martin,
Konieczny Robert,
Kühnel Christa,
Buchmeiser Michael R.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.200800372
Subject(s) - photoinitiator , materials science , curing (chemistry) , acrylate , uv curing , coating , polymerization , plasma , chemical engineering , microstructure , composite material , double bond , contact angle , polymer chemistry , polymer , copolymer , monomer , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
The process of plasma curing of functional acrylates has been studied. For these purposes, a nitrogen plasma generated by a flat and a cylindrical electrode configuration, respectively, was used to provide both planar and 3D curing conditions. In selected cases, a double bond conversion >95% was observed by ATR‐IR spectroscopy for a 15 µm (wet thickness) acrylate coating even without the addition of any photoinitiator. Compared to UV curing, the surface energy of the cured substrates was significantly higher when plasma curing was applied (>70 mN · m −1 ); however, the hydrophilic surfaces experienced hydrophobic recovery. Finally, the generation of microstructures on uniaxially oriented substrates during the plasma process was studied and conditions for their tailor‐made creation are suggested.