Abstract
The radiofrequency plasma (13.56 MHz) was employed to polymerize trimethyl borate (TMB) monomer/N2 gas mixture on the surface of biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films. Plasma polymer coated polypropylene films were examined by flame retardancy test (limiting oxygen index, LOI). The highest LOI value calculated for the untreated BOPP sample was 18.4 (v/v O2%) and 24.2 (v/v O2%) for the 55 W 30 minutes treated sample. The plasma polymers were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and AFM. According to the FTIR results, the -OH, B-CH3, B-O, and BH2 functional groups were detected. It was found that the highest surface roughness belonged to 40 W 30 min treated BOPP sample which was calculated as 9.78 nm (10 μm × 10 μm). Moreover, the wettability of the modified BOPP film surfaces was characterized via contact angle measurements. The water contact angle values have decreased from 109.6? to the lowest value of 68.2? after the plasma treatment. The results showed that TMB/N2 plasma modification could be used as an alternative method for the enhancement of flame retardancy and hydrophilicity of BOPP film.
Highlights
It is well known that the thermal and the mechanical properties of the polyolefins vary with their type and the degree of their crystallinity
The results showed that trimethyl borate (TMB)/N2 plasma modification could be used as an alternative method for the enhancement of flame retardancy and hydrophilicity of biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film
We have focused on the plasma modification of BOPP films in the presence of TMB/N2 in order to improve their tolerance to flame
Summary
It is well known that the thermal and the mechanical properties of the polyolefins vary with their type and the degree of their crystallinity. According to the applied plasma conditions and selected substrate types, desired functional film layer formations can be obtained in a very short time Monomers such as oxygen based ones can lead to the formation of carboxylic acids, ketones and esters where, nitrogen based monomers show high level of nitrogen incurporation into the deposited polymer layer [3]. These plasma polymers have high degree of branching and crosslinking in comparing to conventional polymeric structures [2]. During the thermal degradation of polymers, borates leads to the formation of impenetrable glass coatings on the surface of materials, they can be classified in the effective flame retardants [11]. The results showed that TMB/N2 plasma modification could be used as an alternative method for the enhancement of flame retardancy and hydrophilicity of BOPP film
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