(555f) Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Processing For Controlled Hydrophilic And Hydrophobic Nanocomposite Films

We have developed a process of forming transparent, nanocomposite films with tunable wettability using atmospheric pressure plasma. This process can be applied to many substrate surfaces including temperature-sensitive polymers. Plasma treatment of a structured polystyrene/acrylic material yielded a surface with an RMS roughness of 100 to 200 nm. This surface was coated with semi-porous glass by atmospheric pressure plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (AP PECVD) at 100 W per linear inch, using 10 Torr O2 and 100 mTorr tetramethyldisiloxane in helium. The rough, semi-porous glass was permanently hydrophilic, with a water contact angle of less than 10°. To form the hydrophobic surface with contact angle greater than 100°, the nanoscale rough surface was coated with fluoroalkylsilane and then cured with the helium plasma for a few minutes. We have investigated the effect of the plasma process conditions on the structure of the nanocomposite layers using scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. At the meeting, we will describe how the nanocomposite structure and composition affect the wetting behavior of the polymer material.