Polymerization and Surface Treatment in a Large Volume Microwave Plasma Generator

AbstractSeveral experiments are reported oe the curing and cross-linking of polymer films deposited on metals and non-metals with the aim of evaluating the large volume microwave plasma generator (LMP®) technology. The LMP® technology allows, in principle, the generation of a low-temperature plasma of any desired length and it is therefore of great interest in industrial processes involving the treatment of large surface areas. This paper attempts to evaluate some plasma-polymer coatings produced on various metallic and non-metallic surfaces. It is shown that polyurethane films deposited on metal surfaces are effectively and quickly cross-linked when exposed to an argon microwave plasma; in addition, plasma-polymer coatings were formed from styrene and methylmethacrylate vapours introduced into the LMP reactor. The deposition of such plasma-polymers produced, in most cases, resistant and strongly adhesive coatings. However, the plasma-polymer coating was not found to possess a regular structure. Instead i...