Repetitively pulsed atmospheric pressure discharge treatment of rough polymer surfaces:: II.: Treatment of micro-beads in He/NH3/H2O and He/O2/H2O mixtures

Plasmas are increasingly being used to functionalize the surface of polymers having complex shapes for biomedical applications such as tissue scaffolds and drug delivering micro-beads. The functionalization often requires affixation of amine (NH2) or O-containing groups. In this paper, results are discussed from a two-dimensional computational investigation of the atmospheric pressure plasma functionalization of non-planar and porous surfaces of polypropylene with NHx and O-containing groups. For the former, the discharge is sustained in He/NH3/H2O mixtures in a dielectric barrier-corona configuration. Significant microscopic non-uniformities arise due to competing pathways for reactive gas phase radicals such as OH and NH2, and on the surface by the availability of OH to initiate amine attachment. The treatment of inside surfaces of porous polymer micro-beads placed on an electrode is particularly sensitive to view angles to the discharge and pore size, and is ultimately controlled by the relative rates of radical transport and surface reactions deep into the pores. The functionalization of micro-beads suspended in He/O-2/H2O discharges is rapid with comparable treatment of the outer and interior surfaces, but varies with the location of the micro-bead in the discharge volume.