Vibration-enhanced RF-biased inductively coupled plasma fluidized bed for depositing diamond-like carbon on powders

Abstract

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) is extremely attractive for improving the surface properties of powder materials. However, DLC deposition on powders remains a major challenge due to stringent plasma conditions required and difficulties of effectively processing it with plasma, severely hindering this application. This study proposed an RF-biased inductively coupled plasma (ICP) fluidized bed reactor to address this challenge, especially introducing vibration to render it suitable for cohesive fine powders. The reactor generated high-density plasma using inductive coupling and controlled local ion energy using RF bias, thereby forming a high-flux and high-energy ion region, where powders were fluidized by both gas flow and vibration for DLC deposition. Taking alumina powders as an example, it was experimentally demonstrated that the reactor could uniformly deposit DLC on powders with particle sizes ranging from 120 to 10 µm within 10 min, thereby enhancing their hydrophobicity. The proposed reactor laid a foundation for the application of DLC on powder materials.