Atmospheric Plasma Modification Metal Surfaces

Surface Treatment. Most film surfaces require surface treatment for use in subsequent steps of coating, printing, lamination, or metallization. This treatment results in the chemical modification of the polymer at the surface. The most widely employed surface modification is oxidation of the polymer to create a polar smface (43). Processes that are widely employed are corona and flame treatment. Wet chemical oxidative treatments are seldom used and are restricted to low speed operations. A new surface oxidation technique has been recently developed which uses an atmospheric plasma generated in a hollow cathode with helium or helium gas blends (44). 

Kim et al. have reported the investigations of surface modification phenomena of different metal surfaces by atmospheric plasma jet treated under the condition of nearly atmospheric pressure. The aims of our study are to obtain the optimum conditions with high surface energy and to understand the surface phenomena for increasing the adhesion property. 

In this contribution, we report on the surface modifications of polymers by a dual frequency electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma and their influence on the formation of the metal-polymer interfaces. The surface modifications are studied with respect to different parameters of the plasma treatment including the influence of an atmospheric contact. The interface of an evaporated metal film with a polymer surface is characterized in terms of the observed growth mode of the film as a function of the polymer surface properties. 

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