Abstract
The subject of this study is the application of the piezoelectric direct discharge (PDD) operated with nitrogen to control the surface free energy (SFE) of polymers. The activation area, defined as the area of the zone reaching the SFE of 58 mN/m for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), is characterized. For HDPE, the activation area was characterized as a function of the distance from 1 to 16 mm, the nitrogen flow from 5 to 20 SLM, and the treatment time from 1 to 32 s. For larger distances, where SFE does not exceed 58 mN/m, the water contact angle is evaluated. The activation area for nitrogen PDD is typically a factor of 3 higher than for air with all other conditions the same. A maximum static activation area of 15 cm2 is reached. The plasma treatment of lens panels made of PMMA is presented as application example.
Highlights
Cold atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJ) are very important and widely used tools for surface treatment [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
The APPJs operated with air produce plasma which is small in size [8,9,10,11]
The static activation area was determined using the activation image recording (AIR) method based on visualization of the zone with surface free energy (SFE) higher than 58 mN/m
Summary
Cold atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJ) are very important and widely used tools for surface treatment [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. The APPJs operated with air produce plasma which is small in size [8,9,10,11] Their activation area can be increased using the noble gases, especially He [12,13,14,15,16,17,18] and Ar [19,20,21,22,23], or nitrogen [24,25,26,27,28,29]. Application of nitrogen ionization gas is an attractive alternative to noble gases because it is more economical, and has excellent process properties It is widely used for increasing the hydrophilicity of hydrophobic surfaces [30]. The SFE increase correlates with improved process performance, e.g., an increase in adhesion of pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) on polymers [33], very fast nitrogen APPJ treatment of composite layers [24], or rapid annealing (oxidation) of SnOx layers [34]
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