Abstract
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polydimethylsiloxane (silicone or PDMS) were exposed to low-pressure air, oxygen (O2), and carbon tetrafluoride (CF4) plasma to modify their surfaces. Plasma power and irradiation time were varied to determine the optimal yield for the water contact angle (θ). For both polymers, the CF4 plasma treatment resulted in the fluorination of the surfaces corroborated by FT-IR and XPS analysis, while small changes in the corresponding θ could be observed. For the O2 and air plasma treatment, the θ values of LDPE were reduced from 100° to around 60°. The changes in surface free energies (SFE) were compared for pre- and post-plasma gas treatment for both polymers and their stability under different aging conditions e.g., air, vacuum, and in water were investigated. The SFE of silicone was increased with the O2 plasma treatment from 10 to 75 mN/m and remained stable in water. Whereas the SFE of LDPE was indifferent to all storing conditions and stable up to 168 h. Also, while the SFE for the CF4 plasma-treated silicone remained almost unchanged, for the LDPE it was decreased to 15 from 35 mN/m. The wettability studies under different conditions e.g., different pH, NaCl, and BSA concentrations affirmed that they can be potentially used for biomedical applications. Finally, the multiple successive gas plasma treatment of LDPE and silicone were done up to 6 times to attain the θ values in the desired range e.g., about 120° to 30° for LDPE and 120° to 13° for silicone.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
Data will be made available on request.
References
Arpagaus C, Oberbossel G, Rudolf von Rohr P (2018) Plasma treatment of polymer powders—from laboratory research to industrial application. Plasma Process Polym 15:1800133. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppap.201800133
Papakonstantinou D, Amanatides E, Mataras D et al (2007) Improved surface energy analysis for plasma treated PET films. Plasma Process Polym 4:S1057–S1062. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppap.200732405
Grace JM, Gerenser LJ (2003) Plasma treatment of polymers. J Dispers Sci Technol 24:305–341. https://doi.org/10.1081/DIS-120021793
Bassas-Galia M, Follonier S, Pusnik M, Zinn M (2017) Natural polymers. Bioresorbable polymers for biomedical applications. Elsevier, pp 31–64
Mao C, Liang C, Luo W et al (2009) Preparation of lotus-leaf-like polystyrene micro- and nanostructure films and its blood compatibility. J Mater Chem 19:9025. https://doi.org/10.1039/b912314h
Ibrahim ID (2017) Applications of polymers in the biomedical field. Curr Trends Biomed Eng Biosci. https://doi.org/10.19080/CTBEB.2017.04.555650
Hladik J, Spatenka P, Aubrecht L, Pichal J (2006) New method of microwave plasma treatment of HDPE powders. Czech J Phys 56:B1120–B1125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10582-006-0337-6
Patra N, Hladik J, Pavlatová M et al (2013) Investigation of plasma-induced thermal, structural and wettability changes on low density polyethylene powder. Polym Degrad Stab 98:1489–1494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2013.04.014
Samieyan E, Rahimi H, Ershad Langroudi A (2013) Carbon fibre reinforced polypropylene composites with plasma treated constituent materials. Plast Rubber Compos 42:256–263. https://doi.org/10.1179/1743289812Y.0000000046
Novácek V, Špatenka P, Vacková T, Jeníková Z, Krishna S, Veselý B (2020) Enhanced interfacial strength of plasma treated polyethylene and glass. Instant J Mech Eng. https://doi.org/10.36811/ijme.2020.110003
Levchenko I, Xu S, Baranov O et al (2021) Plasma and polymers: recent progress and trends. Molecules 26:4091. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26134091
Anand M, Cohen RE, Baddour RF (1981) Surface modification of low density polyethylene in a fluorine gas plasma. Polymer (Guildf) 22:361–371. https://doi.org/10.1016/0032-3861(81)90048-3
Yan YH, Chan-Park MB, Yue CY (2005) CF4 plasma treatment of poly(dimethylsiloxane): effect of fillers and its application to high-aspect-ratio UV embossing. Langmuir 21:8905–8912. https://doi.org/10.1021/la051580m
Gao S, Zhou K, Wen L (2009) Improvement of surface hydrophobicity on silicone rubber modified by CF4 radio frequency capacitively coupled plasma. J Cent South Univ Technol 16:365–370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-009-0062-y
Owens DK, Wendt RC (1969) Estimation of the surface free energy of polymers. J Appl Polym Sci 13:1741–1747. https://doi.org/10.1002/app.1969.070130815
Mullapudi RS, Sudhakar Reddy K (2020) Relationship between rheological properties of RAP binders and cohesive surface free energy. J Mater Civ Eng. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0003199
Jańczuk B, Białopiotrowicz T, Zdziennicka A (1999) Some remarks on the components of the liquid surface free energy. J Colloid Interface Sci 211:96–103. https://doi.org/10.1006/jcis.1998.5990
van Oss CJ (2006) Interfacial forces in aqueous media. CRC Press
Tsuchida M, Osawa Z (1994) Effect of ageing atmospheres on the changes in surface free energies of oxygen plasma-treated polyethylene films. Colloid Polym Sci 272:770–776. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00652417
Morra M, Occhiello E, Marola R et al (1990) On the aging of oxygen plasma-treated polydimethylsiloxane surfaces. J Colloid Interface Sci 137:11–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9797(90)90038-P
Murakami T, Kuroda S, Osawa Z (1998) Dynamics of polymeric solid surfaces treated with oxygen plasma: effect of aging media after plasma treatment. J Colloid Interface Sci 202:37–44. https://doi.org/10.1006/jcis.1997.5386
Gomathi N, Mishra I, Varma S, Neogi S (2015) Surface modification of poly(dimethylsiloxane) through oxygen and nitrogen plasma treatment to improve its characteristics towards biomedical applications. Surf Topogr 3:035005. https://doi.org/10.1088/2051-672X/3/3/035005
Homma H, Kuroyagi T, Izumi K et al (1999) Diffusion of low molecular weight siloxane from bulk to surface. IEEE Trans Dielectr Electr Insul 6:370–375. https://doi.org/10.1109/94.775625
Kuchin I, Starov V (2015) Hysteresis of contact angle of sessile droplets. Math Model Nat Phenom 10:61–75. https://doi.org/10.1051/mmnp/201510403
Juárez-Moreno JA, Ávila-Ortega A, Oliva AI et al (2015) Effect of wettability and surface roughness on the adhesion properties of collagen on PDMS films treated by capacitively coupled oxygen plasma. Appl Surf Sci 349:763–773. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2015.05.063
Gomathi N, Sureshkumar A, Neogi S (2008) RF plasma-treated polymers for biomedical applications
Salih SI, Oleiwi JK, Ali HM (2018) Study the mechanical properties of polymeric blends (SR/PMMA) using for maxillofacial prosthesis application. IOP Conf Ser Mater Sci Eng 454:012086. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/454/1/012086
Gao S-H, Zhou K-S, Lei M-K, Wen L-S (2008) Surface modification of silicone rubber by CF4 radio frequency plasma immersion. Plasma Chem Plasma Process 28:715–728. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-008-9156-9
Shi L-S, Wang L-Y, Wang Y-N (2006) The investigation of argon plasma surface modification to polyethylene: quantitative ATR–FTIR spectroscopic analysis. Eur Polym J 42:1625–1633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2006.01.007
Sanchis MR, Blanes V, Blanes M et al (2006) Surface modification of low density polyethylene (LDPE) film by low pressure O2 plasma treatment. Eur Polym J 42:1558–1568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2006.02.001
de Geyter N, Morent R, Leys C (2008) Surface characterization of plasma-modified polyethylene by contact angle experiments and ATR–FTIR spectroscopy. Surf Interface Anal 40:608–611. https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.2611
Bi X, Crum BP, Li W (2014) Super hydrophobic parylene-C produced by consecutive O2 and SF6 plasma treatment. J Microelectromech Syst 23:628–635. https://doi.org/10.1109/JMEMS.2013.2283634
Acknowledgements
The research was supported by the startup fund (N. Sahiner) by Ophthalmology Dpt., Morsani College of Medicine at USF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The authors are grateful for the financial support provided to N. Sahiner (Startup funds) by USF-Ophthalmology Dpt.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Polat, O., Bhethanabotla, V.R., Ayyala, R.S. et al. Carbon Tetrafluoride, Oxygen, and Air RF Plasma Modified Low-Density Polyethylene and Polydimethylsiloxane. Plasma Chem Plasma Process 43, 737–756 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-023-10324-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-023-10324-z