Preparation of zinc coated PMMA using solid precursor by gliding arc discharge

Abstract

A novel gliding arc discharge method using zinc particle as a solid precursor was used to coat poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) particles to provide an adjustable electrical conductivity. An AC voltage of 4.5kV was applied to the electrodes and 2Lmin−1 of argon gas was injected to generate the gliding arc discharge. By using a combination of spouted bed condition and gliding arc discharge, a rapid coating performance was achieved. After 5min of coating process, PMMA particles were observed to be covered by a fine zinc layer. The amount of coating increased at the beginning of the process and became relatively constant after 20min. The amount of zinc coating was found to be approximately 10mg/1g of PMMA particle at a coating time of 10min and 0.10 zinc/PMMA mass ratio in the bed. The percentage of zinc surface coverage was calculated to be 60% with a thickness of 140nm. The coated samples exhibited electrical conductivity, approximately 3.7×10−1Sm−1 at zinc/PMMA mass ratio of 0.15 with a thickness of 195nm and a surface coverage of 75%. The amount of zinc coating showed a proportional relationship with both coating duration and zinc/PMMA mass ratio in the bed. The increase in the amount of zinc coating resulted in an increase of coating thickness, which further resulted in an increasing electrical conductivity of the coated polymer. The proposed method shows a promising potential for particle coating process.