Homogeneity study of fluoropolymer films modified by atmospheric pressure nitrogen plasma discharges

ABSTRACT

This work investigated the impact of an atmospheric pressure nitrogen plasma treatment on the surface homogeneity of a fluoropolymer film. The resulting surfaces were assessed using T-peel tests, surface energy measurements, and XPS analyses. The results showed that the treatment led to the defluorination of the fluoropolymer surface, therefore increasing its wettability. Consequently, the peel strength of the substrate drastically increased. This study also highlighted that surface energy alone is not an accurate indicator of adhesion properties. The results correlated the XPS ratio (C-O+C-N+C-C)/(CF₃+CF₂) with the adhesion increase.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Atmospheric pressure nitrogen plasma
• fluoropolymer
• surface modification
• adhesion

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada and the Quebec Center for Advanced Materials (QCAM) for financial support.

Credit authorship contribution statement:

Williams Caceres: investigation, writing – original draft, methodology, formal analysis, writing – review & editing. Alex Destrieux: methodology, writing – review & editing. Jacopo Profili: supervision, methodology, formal analysis, review & editing, conceptualization. Andrée-Anne Guay-Bégin: methodology, formal analysis. Sethumadhavan Ravichandran: validation, review & editing. Morgane Laurent: methodology, formal analysis, review & editing. Andrew Smith: validation, writing – review & editing. Gaétan Laroche: funding acquisition, project administration, supervision, visualization, writing – review & editing, formal analysis, conceptualization.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest since this work remains a research study of the fundamental mechanisms behind the adhesion phenomena.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada (Grant #RDCPJ 513933-17) and Saint-Gobain Research North America.

Notes on contributors

Williams Caceres

Williams Caceres received his B.Sc. in Chemistry from the Universidad de Los Andes (ULA-Venezuela) in 2016. He later pursued an M.Sc. in Polymer Technology at the Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada (CIQA-Mexico). Currently, he is a senior Ph.D. candidate at Laval University, focusing on plasma surface modifications of fluoropolymers. His research centers on the understanding and correlation between the plasma discharge and the modification obtained.

Alex Destrieux

Alex Destrieux completed first a BTEC in Physics from the Université de Bordeaux (France) in 2016. He then completed the last year of his B.Sc. in Materials Engineering at the Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA - France) in 2017. He later pursued an M.Sc. in Plasma Science and Technologies at Université Paul Sabatier (UPS - France). Currently, he is a senior Ph.D. candidate at Laval University, focusing on plasma diagnostics of atmospheric pressure plasmas. His research centers on the understanding of the physico-chemistry of such plasma.

Jacopo Profili

Jacopo Profili obtained his B.Sc. Materials Science in Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée University in 2009. He later pursued an M.Sc. in Chemistry and M.Sc. in Physics and Chemistry of Materials at Pierre and Marie Curie University. Then, he pursued an international double doctorate between the Université de Montréal (UDEM-Canada) and the Université de Toulouse (France). He is currently working at Laval University as a postdoctoral scientist. His research focuses on developing new surface modification strategies for different materials and the fundamental study of plasma-surface interactions.

Andrée-Anne Guay-Bégin

Andrée-Anne Guay-Bégin has a background in chemistry from Laval University. Then, she pursued an M.Sc. in Materials Engineering at Laval University. Currently, she is a research professional in the Laboratoire d'Ingénierie de Surface (LIS) of Laval University. Shes research interest includes surface modification of several materials, physicochemical surface characterization, and the interactions of the materials with cells, bacteria, or viruses for biomedical applications.

Sethumadhavan Ravichandran

Sethumadhavan Ravichandran has a Bachelor's degree in Rubber and Plastics Technology from Madras Institute of Technology, India. He holds a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Plastics Engineering from the Massachusetts Lowell University. He worked for ten years in the R&D group of Saint Gobain Research North America. Currently, he is working as R&D and Process Engineering Manager at Solar Gard Saint-Gobain (USA). His research interests include R&D of new product formulation, process development, and pilot scale-up/industrialization of polymeric materials.

Morgane Laurent

Morgane Laurent completed his B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Mulhouse (France). She later pursued an M.Sc. in Materials Sciences at the Haute-Alsace University (France). Then, he pursued an international double doctorate between Laval University (Canada) and the Université de Toulouse (France). She worked as Senior Research Engineer in Saint Gobain Research North America until the beginning of 2023. Currently, she is working at the Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography (ASML-USA). Her research interests include surface modification and characterization of materials, plasma surface modification, and plasma characterization.

Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith completed his B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and B.Sc. in Entrepreneurial Management at the University of Connecticut (USA). He later pursued a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Connecticut (USA). Currently, he is working as a Senior Research Engineer at Saint Gobain Research North America. His research interests include materials engineering, polymer composites, and surface modification.

Gaétan Laroche

Gaétan Laroche is a professor at the Department of Materials Engineering of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Laval University. He is a member of the Centre de Recherche sur les Matériaux Avancés (CERMA) at Laval University and of the Quebec Center on Advanced Materials (QCAM). His research focuses on developing surface modification strategies of materials to improve their compatibility with the surrounding environment. He is the author of more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, 6 patents and has presented more than 300 scientific contributions at national and international conferences. He received the title of Fellow in Biomaterials Science and Engineering from the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering for lifetime career achievements.