Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment Of Polymers: Relevance To Adhesion

Polymers are used in a wide variety of industries to fabricate a legion of products because of their many desirable traits. However, polymers in general (and polyolefins, in particular)are innately not very adhesionable because of absence of polar or reactive groups on their surfaces and concomitant low surface energy. So surface treatment of polymers is sine qua non to impart reactive chemical groups on their surfaces to enhance their adhesion characteristics. Proper surface treatment can endow polymers with improved adhesion without tempering with the bulk properties.

A plethora of techniques (ranging from wet to dry, simple to sophisticated, vacuum to non-vacuum) for polymer surface modification have been documented in the literature but the Atmospheric Pressure Plasma (APP) treatment has attracted much attention because it offers many advantages vis-a-vis other techniques, namely uniform treatment, continuous operation, no requirement for vacuum, simplicity, low cost, no environmental or disposal concern, and applicability to large area samples.

Although the emphasis in this book is on the utility of APP treatment for enhancement of polymer adhesion, APP is also applicable and effective to modulate many other surface properties of polymers: superhydrophilicity, superhydrophobicity, anti-fouling, anti-fogging, anti-icing, cell adhesion, biocompatibility, tribological behavior, etc.

Michael Thomas is the head of the Department of Atmospheric Pressure Processes at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films (IST), Germany, and has more than 15 years' experience in surface technology. Trained as a chemist, his work is focused on fundamental and industrial projects of surface treatment and coatings in the area of plasma processes at atmospheric pressure, with specific interest in adhesion using dielectric barrier discharge and microplasma-based processes. He has published more than 30 technical papers and professional articles and holds 10 patents on the topic of atmospheric pressure plasma technology.

Kashmiri Lal Mittal was employed by the IBM Corporation from 1972 through 1993. Currently, he is teaching and consulting worldwide in the broad areas of adhesion as well as surface cleaning. He has received numerous awards and honors including the title of doctor honoris causa from Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland. He is the editor of more than 110 volumes dealing with adhesion measurement, adhesion of polymeric coatings, polymer surfaces, adhesive joints, adhesion promoters, thin films, polyimides, surface modification, surface cleaning, and surfactants.