Homogeneous surface hydrophilization on the inner walls of polymer tubes using a flexible atmospheric cold microplasma jet

Abstract

AbstractThe intrinsic hydrophobic nature of polymer tubes limits their applications in biomedical and mechanical fields. In this paper, homogeneous hydrophilization on the inner surfaces of polytetrafluoroethylene tubes was realized by directly inserting a flexible atmospheric cold microplasma jet (FμPJ) into the tubes. The water contact angle, surface morphologies, and chemical compositions of the treated inner surfaces were investigated to characterize the plasma hydrophilization. Results demonstrated that the wettability of the inner walls of the tube was well improved and the wettability could be retained at a low value even after 30 days of storage. Notably, homogeneous hydrophilization was achieved along the axial and circumferential directions of the tube. The results indicated that FμPJ shows great potential for uniform inner surface modification of polymers tubes.