DC pulsed plasma surface treatment of atactic and isotactic polystyrene thin films with oxygen, oxygen-nitrogen mixture and nitrogen: study of wettability

¹ Laboratoire d'Électronique des Gaz et des Plasmas, Université de Pau, 64000 Pau, France
² Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie des Polymères, Université de Pau, 64000 Pau, France

Corresponding author: bernard.held@univ-pau.fr

Received: 26 September 2002
Revised: 9 December 2002
Accepted: 13 December 2002
Published online: 25 February 2003

Abstract

This article deals with the cold plasma treatment of atactic polystyrene (aPS) and isotactic polystyrene (iPS) thin films with oxygen, oxygen-nitrogen mixture or nitrogen. Experimental results showed that the use of a DC pulsed plasma discharge at low pressure can considerably increase surface hydrophilicity. Variations in macroscopic surface properties were studied by water drop contact angle measurements. It was found that treatment of aPS resulted in a greater change in wettability than that for iPS. This initial observation of the effect of tacticity, and thus polymer microstructure, on surface properties is discussed with regards to the crystalline and helical nature of iPS.