A comparison of polypropylene-surface treatment by filamentary, homogeneous and glow discharges in helium at atmospheric pressure

Three different dielectric barrier-controlled discharge regimes in helium at atmospheric pressure under sinusoidal excitation have been obtained by varying the excitation frequency or the gas chemical composition: the filamentary discharge, which is the discharge that is usually obtained; the glow discharge, which is controlled by cathode secondary emission; and the homogeneous discharge, which is of a nature in between those of the filamentary and the glow discharges. All the characteristics that have been studied, such as the discharge current, the emission spectrum, the wettability and the chemical transformations of a polypropylene film, are related to the discharge-regime variation. The glow discharge is clearly more efficient than the others as a means of increasing the polypropylene-surface energy. Values as high as 62 mJ m(-2) are obtained with this discharge whereas the maximum value after interaction with the filamentary one is 45 mJ m(-2). This improvement in wettability is due to there being more O atoms implanted at the surface as well as to the addition of N atoms. The differences among in surface transformations have been correlated to the characteristics of these different discharges and more specifically to the localization of the electrical energy transfer into the gas and to the nature of the ions created during the discharge.