Atmospheric pressure glow discharge deposition of thermo-sensitive poly (N-isopropylacrylamide)

Abstract

In this paper, a self-made atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge reactor on intermediate frequency is brought forward and developed, which is equipped with power supply of 1-20 KHz, and the working gas is argon. The experimental results show that is a very stable and uniform atmospheric pressure glow discharge (APGD). Through a series of experiments, the waveforms of single pulse and multi-pulse glow discharge were both obtained. The voltage amplitude, discharge gap and dielectric material are studied, and the conditions of multi-pulse glow discharge are discussed as well. The novel methods of depositing poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) coatings on the surface of glass slides and PS petri dish are provided by atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization. PNIPAAm can be obtained by plasma polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide using the self-made equipment of atmospheric pressure plasma vapor treatment. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and water contact angle. SEM analysis has revealed that the PNIPAAm coatings were formed on the surface of the smooth glass slides. Further evaluation by using XPS, it has shown the presence of PNIPAAm. The wettability can be significantly modified by changing of the temperatures at above and below of the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) from the data of the contact angle test. These results have advantage for further application on the thermo-sensitive textile materials.