Easy Synthesis of Ageing-Resistant Coatings with Tunable Wettability by Atmospheric Pressure Plasma

This study presents a simple and dry approach to synthesize stable, thin organic coatings with tunable wettability by injecting appropriate quantities of propargyl methacrylate (propaMA) and acrylic acid (AA) into a dielectric barrier discharge operating at atmospheric pressure. Deposition rates of up to 11 nm s(-1) can be achieved, thanks to the high reactivity of the propaMA monomer in the discharge. The AA monomer exhibits a weaker reactivity but, as evidenced by IRRAS and XPS analyses, allows introducing polar groups into the coating, thereby modifying the surface wettability. The surface is thus shown to be tunable from highly hydrophobic (WCA = 140A degrees, pure propaMA coatings) to highly hydrophilic (WCA = 15A degrees, pure AA coatings) by adjusting the monomer ratio in the discharge. These coatings have been deposited on polypropylene (PP) substrates, and the resulting WCA is shown to remain constant for at least 64 days, ageing that is remarkably slow compared with plasma functionalization that usually leads to rapid hydrophobic recovery.