Plasma Surface Modification of Polymeric Materials
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Plasma Surface Modification of Polymeric Materials Dr. Ali Razavi Wilkes University Division of Engineering 84 West South Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766
570-408-4818 [email protected]
ABSTRACT This study was undertaken to improve the bonding of fluorinated and nonfluorinated polymers to acrylic and silicone based adhesives. The polymeric materials were exposed to plasma which is comprised of methane and a second gas selected from air, Oxygen and Nitrogen or a mixture thereof. By application of surface analysis (XPS), the optimized functionality can be incorporated in the surface of desired polymers to enhance the bond ability of prepared films for pressure sensitive tape applications. Perfluoroalkoxy-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer PFA, fluorinated ethylene-propylene FEP, Polytetrafluoroethylene PTFE, and Polyester materials were exposed to this plasma. The treated samples were coated with adhesives and the adhesion to steel, holding power and other properties associated with tapes performance were studied.
INTRODUCTION Polymeric materials may be categorized as fluorinated and non-fluorinated. Low surface energy materials are typically made from fluoropolymers. Because of their chemical properties, low energy materials of fluoropolymers are not bondable, wettable or printable. To make fluoropolymer materials bondable, wettable or printable, they need to be chemically etched. Chemical etching processes such as “Tetratech” from W.I. Gore Co. or “Fluorotech” from Porter Processing are typically commercially used to make fluoropolymer materials suitable for bonding, wetting, or printing. Chemical etching processes, such as sodium etching, remove fluoride atoms from the surface of the fluoropolymer material. These processes result in a surface which is chemically changed, and which is susceptible to wetting and interacting with other materials so that the fluoropolymer materials can be made adhesive; treated with an epoxy; laminated or otherwise suitable for additive processes. However, currently employed processes used for making fluoropolymer materials wettable, bondable and printable have several drawbacks, including causing the fluoropolymer material to undergo a color change, having a limited shelf-life, and having a chemical additive on the surface. These processes also cannot be used effectively on all fuoropolymers. In addition, on a more global perspective, the currently used processes are hazardous to work with and create environmentally hazardous by-products.
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When other polymeric materials such as “Kapton” (DuPont) Polyester and Polyolefins are used for printing or bonding, they are typically first treated with an organic base coat primer in order to provide better adhesion or printability. Examples of such base coat primers include organometallic film forming compounds such as Silancs and Siloxanes. However, these processes are very costly and further result in Xylene and Hexane emissions. These processes also require excessive curing temperatures for primer coating, which cau
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