Polymer Surface Modifications

In most of published studies of polymer modification by plasma treatment, great attention is devoted to the roughness and surface morphology of modified... 

Kalnin, I. L., and H. Jager (1985). Carbon fiber surfaces—characterization, modification and effect on the fracture behavior of carbon fiber-polymer composites, pp. 62—77. In Fitzer E., ed. Carbon Fibers and Their Composites. Springer-Verlag, New York. 

Xu H, Norsten TB, Uzun O, Jeoung E, Rotello VM. Stimuli responsive surfaces through recognition-mediated polymer modification. Chem Commun 2005 5157-5159. 

Other polymer modifications involve surface or bulk modifications, and a majority of them are used in medical technology. Examples of these processes are ... 

Polymer modification at the macroscopic level (either as a material subjected to mechanical processing or as a running object) consists of initiating the destructive phenomena at microdefects—that is, at submicroscopic cracks, statistically distributed on the surface or within the body of the stressed material. These cracks become centers where a detachment of intermolecular bonds occurs. This process might be called a mechanical disaggregation, the opposite of aggregation, a term that expresses (in this context) the assembly of various structural elements into polymers. 

For the same reason as above, excess solvent molecules in the cavitation bubble also seriously limit the applicability of many volatile organic solvents as a medium for sonochemical reactions [2,25,26]. In fact, water becomes a unique solvent in many cases, combining its low vapor pressure, high surface tension, and viscosity with a high yield of active radical output in solution. Its higher cavitation threshold results in subsequently higher final temperatures and pressures upon bubble collapse. Most environmental remediation problems deal with aqueous solutions, whereas organic solvents are mostly used in synthesis and polymer modifications processes. 

Figure 3. Functionalization of CNTs (a) non-covalent interacions with polymers and biomolecules (b) covalent surface chemical modification (end-functionalization and side-wall functionalization).

In H2 plasma s reaction 3 occurs upon exposure to the atmosphere. Clearly, more work needs to be done before the surface chemistry of polymer modification can be more clearly understood. Static SIMS can play an important role in such studies. 

Polymer surface modifications are omnipresent in applications where the surface properties of materials with favorable bulk properties are insufficient. By altering the surface characteristics using physical or chemical modification the desired surface properties may be achieved. Such treatments are required e.g. to enhance printability of films, the adhesion of paints, metal or other coatings, biocompatibility, protein resistances/reduced biofouling, etc. The diverse approaches met in practice include, among others, wet chemical and gas phase chemistry, plasma or corona, UV/ozone and flame treatments. In most cases surface chemical modification reactions take place that alter the surface energy in a desired way. For example,... 

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