ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE PEN-LIKE PLASMA TREATMENT OF PE FILM

Abstract

In order to improve the printing ability on polyethylene (PE) thin film and enable a simpler plasma treatment technology, PE was treated by high radio frequency atmospheric pressure pen-like plasma (plasma torch). The investigation on the effect of treatment conditions such as power, time and Ar gas flow rate on the contact angle of PE surface was carried out. To compare the effect of atmospheric and low-pressure plasma treatment, PE thin film was also treated by low-pressure plasma system AST at 2 Torr. The results show that both atmospheric pressure as well as low-pressure plasma treatments caused a significant decrease of contact angle, however the effect was higher at the atmospheric plasma treatment. After treatment, the contact angle of PE film to water decreased from 88,7⁰ to 43,3 ⁰ at low-pressure and 27,1⁰ at atmospheric plasma. The soft ware Sigmaplot 10 was used to optimize the treatment condition of PE thin film at the atmospheric pen-like plasma. The optimal treatment conditions deduced from contour face were 50W, 1 minute and flow rate of 5 l/min, which resulted in a much better printing ability on the treated PE surface.