Surface properties and the stability of poly(ethylene terephtalate) films treated in plasmas of helium-oxygen mixtures
✍ Scribed by G. Placinta; F. Arefi-Khonsari; M. Gheorghiu; J. Amouroux; G. Popa
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 190 KB
- Volume
- 66
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0021-8995
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
In this work, the surface treatment of poly(ethylene terephtalate) (PET) films in a low frequency (70 kHz) discharge in helium-oxygen mixtures is investigated. Optical emission spectroscopy and mass spectrometry are used to analyze the gas phase. Surface properties are analyzed via the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique and contact angle measurements. The treatment conditions are optimized in order to obtain a surface functionalization, which would show a reduced ageing effect. The stability of the treated surface via the crosslinking process seems to be closely correlated to the presence of the helium metastable species in the discharge. A very good stability with the ageing time is obtained for samples treated in gaseous mixtures that contain less than 5% O 2 , conditions for which the oxidized polymeric structure seems to be formed on a reinforced crosslinked layer. The very efficient loss of He excited species, for amounts of O 2 higher than a few percent, affects the surface crosslinking. For high quantities of oxygen introduced in the reactor (more than about 50%), a balance is established between the introduction of oxygenated groups and the ablation of the surface. In this case, the surface degradation has, as a consequence, the ageing effect.