Polytetrafluoroethylene surface modification by filamentary and homogeneous dielectric barrier discharges in air

In this paper, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) films are modified using non-equilibrium plasma generated by homogeneous DBD in air at medium pressure, and the results are compared to those treated by using filamentary DBD in air at atmospheric pressure. The surface properties of PTFE films before and after the treatments are studied using contact angle and surface energy measurement, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It is found that the plasma treatments modify the PTFE surface in both morphology and composition. The PTFE films modified in both treatments show a remarkable decrease in water contact and a remarkable increase in surface energy. XPS analysis reveals that oxygen-containing polar groups are introduced onto the PTFE surface, and SEM analysis shows that the surfaces of the films are etched after both the treatments. It is found that homogeneous DBD is more effective in PTFE surface modification than filamentary DBD as it can make the contact angle decline to a lower level by introducing more oxygen-containing groups, and the possible reason for this effect is discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.