Behaviour of catalytic probe during surface activation of polyether sulphone

The influence of a polymer sample on the behaviour of a catalytic probe was determined. Highly dissociated oxygen plasma was created in a glass cylindrical tube with an inductively coupled RF generator. The density of oxygen atoms was determined with a nickel catalytic probe at different pressures between 20 and 400 Pa. A polymer sample with different area was placed in the discharge vessel and the signal of the catalytic probe was measured at different pressure. During the treatment of polymer samples in oxygen plasma it was found that the catalytic probe signal depended on the area of the samples exposed to plasma. The probe signal was higher in the presence of polymer than in the case of an empty discharge vessel. The signal of the catalytic probe increased monotonically with an increasing surface area of the polymer. The increase of the probe signal was explained by additional heating of the probe due to recombination of carbon monoxide on its surface. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.