Jung-Hyeon Yoon

Polymer surface modification by plasma source ion implantation

Abstract The plasma source ion implantation technique has been used to improve the wetting property of polymer surfaces. The modified polymer surfaces were evaluated with a contact angle meter to note the change of water contact angles and their variations with time. The oxygen-implanted samples showed extremely low water contact angles of 3° compared with 79° of unimplanted ones. Furthermore, the modified surfaces were relatively stable with respect to aging under ambient conditions. Time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry(TOF-SIMS) and scanning auger electron spectroscopy were used to analyze the implanted surfaces. From TOF-SIMS analysis it was found that oxygen-containing functional groups had been formed on the implanted surfaces. On the other hand, the CF 4 -implanted samples turned out to be more hydrophobic than unimplanted ones, giving water contact angles exceeding 100°. The experiments showed that plasma source ion implantation is a very promising technique for polymer surface modification, especially for large area treatment.

Surface studies of plasma source ion implantation treated polystyrene

The plasma source ion implantation (PSII) was utilized to improve the wettability and the stability of surface layer formed in the modification of polymeric materials. Polystyrene was treated with different kinds of plasma ions to render the surface more hydrophilic or hydrophobic. Hydrophobic recovery of PSII-treated polystyrene was also observed as a function of aging time, aging temperature, and treatment parameters. Treatment parameters involve kinds of gases, pressure, plasma power, pulse frequency, pulse voltage, etc. To study the effect of inert gas on hydrophobic recovery, polystyrene samples were prepared by helium, argon, or gas-mixture treatment. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) has been used to interpret the PSII-treated polystyrene surface and its hydrophobic recovery, with the assistance of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and water contact angle measurements. TOF-SIMS spectra of 18O2 PSII-treated samples showed the presence of 18O-containing peaks from the modified ...