Premium
Sulphur Hexafluoride Plasma Treatment to Enhance the Hydrophobicity of CVD Carbon Coatings Produced on Cornstarch Plasticized Films
Author(s) -
Simão Renata A.,
da Silva Monica L.V.J.,
Martins Moema,
Thiré Rossana M.S.M.,
Andrade Cristina T.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.200651374
Subject(s) - materials science , contact angle , chemical vapor deposition , coating , sulfur hexafluoride , fluorine , chemical engineering , carbon fibers , amorphous carbon , etching (microfabrication) , amorphous solid , plasma etching , surface modification , composite material , nanotechnology , layer (electronics) , chemistry , organic chemistry , metallurgy , composite number , engineering
In this work, a new coating strategy was successfully developed and promising results indicate a significant reduction of the water sensibility of cornstarch films coated by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). Amorphous carbon coatings (a‐C:H) produced from methane (CH 4 ) were submitted to different sulphur hexafluoride plasma treatments. The best results were obtained for cornstarch films coated with a 50 nm‐thick CH 4 plasma coating and treated with SF 6 for 60 s. This surface modification led to a significant increase in the surface hydrophobicity, with measured contact angle of 85°. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to evaluate local surface modifications upon the a‐C:H coating and after the SF 6 plasma treatment. Results indicate that the cornstarch films were homogeneously coated using CH 4 . SF 6 treatment led to a plasma etching of the surface, changing completely the observed morphology. Fluorine was incorporated to the surface.