Surface property modification of a polyethylene powder by coupling fluidized bed and far cold remote nitrogen plasma technologies

A far cold remote nitrogen (FCRN) plasma, eventually doped with oxygen, was used to modify the surface properties of a polyethylene (PE) powder. The process associates both remote plasma and fluidized bed technologies. Two applications are described. The first one, for increasing the hydrophilic character of PE, only requires a single plasma treatment. The second application involves FCRN plasma polymerization of 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane mixed with oxygen to obtain a hydrophobic film on the powder surface. The wettability evolution of the PE powder was followed by contact angle measurements (Washburn method) versus different experimental parameters. The surface modifications induced by the treatments were studied by XPS. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.