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Microflames for the surface treatment of polymers
Author(s) -
Holländer Andreas
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
plasma processes and polymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1612-8869
pISSN - 1612-8850
DOI - 10.1002/ppap.201900096
Subject(s) - x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , butane , materials science , polymer , oxygen , polyethylene , acetylene , analytical chemistry (journal) , contact angle , mixing (physics) , capillary action , limiting oxygen concentration , chemical engineering , composite material , chemistry , chromatography , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering , catalysis
Polyethylene (PE) films were treated with flame pulses for a confined activation of the surface. Acetylene, ethene, and butane were used in various mixing ratios with oxygen. The gas mixture was fed through a 0.5 mm stainless steel capillary, which was placed close to the surface of the film. An electrical spark was used to ignite the gas. A single flame pulse suffices to oxidize the polymer surface to an oxygen concentration of 26 at% (XPS). The profile of the oxygen concentration was analyzed by XPS and revealed full width at half maximum values down to 2.8 mm. The treatment of pieces of sintered PE powder (nominal pore size, 80 µm) showed that the surface oxidation penetrates several millimeters into the pore system.