Characterization Of Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) Produced In Air At Atmospheric Pressure And Its Application In Surface Modification Of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE)

Rajesh Prakash Guragain,S Gautam,U M Joshi,S Dhungana,H B Baniya,B P Pandey,D P Subedi

doi:10.31281/jtsp.v1i1.11

Abstract

The low surface energy of HDPE limits its industrial uses as it is not suitable for printing and adhesion. The main aim of this work is to improve the wetting properties of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) using air dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) operating at the line frequency (50 Hz). The estimation of electron temperature and electron density has been done by electrical and optical methods. The surface roughness of the control and plasma treated polymer film is analysed by contact angle (CA) measurement, surface energy measurement and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis. The contact angle was found to be suppressed from 93.180±2.00 to 63.750±0.880 after 10s of plasma treatment which implied that the surface property had changed to a hydrophilic state caused by an increase in the surface roughness.

Highlights

High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) is a recyclable thermoplastic polymer made from petroleum product which is the most versatile plastic materials around, and used in a wide variety of applications, including plastic bottles, toys, soda bottles, trash cans, traffic cones bleach bottles, cutting boards, and piping [1]
The reduction of the water contact angles on treated HDPE films as compared to the untreated one shows the strong increased wettability induced by the air-dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) even after such short treatment time
The molecular oxygen which is in contact with the air is activated, ionized and dissociated in the discharge to give extremely reactive oxygen species which can readily react with the HDPE films

Summary

Introduction

High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) is a recyclable thermoplastic polymer made from petroleum product which is the most versatile plastic materials around, and used in a wide variety of applications, including plastic bottles, toys, soda bottles, trash cans, traffic cones bleach bottles, cutting boards, and piping [1]. The main reason for its wide range of applications is its superb characteristics viz., high chemical resistance, good mechanical properties (high flexibility, high tensile strength and ease of material processing), high recycling potential and low cost [2,3]. The surface energy of HDPE is quite low due to the absence of polar functional groups in PE molecular chains [4,5], which limit their potential application in various fields. In order to spread its uses in different sectors, its surface modification is necessary.

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