https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap:2001114
Polystyrene thin films treatment under DC pulsed discharges conditions in nitrogen
1
Laboratoire d'Électronique, des Gaz et des Plasmas, Université de Pau, 64000 Pau, France
2
Laboratoire des Matériaux de l'Électrotechnique, Université de Patras, 26500 Rio-Patras, Greece
Corresponding author: bernard.held@univ-pau.fr
Received:
24
July
2000
Revised:
10
November
2000
Accepted:
24
November
2000
Published online: 15 January 2001
A systematic parameters study is performed in a DC pulsed glow discharge in nitrogen in
order to improve the wettability of thin polystyrene layers. The experimental parameters
considered are the pressure P, the interelectrode voltage V, the frequency ν of the pulsed
power supply and the treatment time tt. The wettability is characterized by the contact angle
technic. The 
ratio is measured,
where 
and 
are respectively the initial and final contact angles. In the first part of
the paper, the variations of 
as a function of the electrical energy E are
investigated, the variations of E being obtained by modifying the parameters V, ν and/or tt. In the
second part, the specific energy ε and the economical criterion γ are introduced to deduce the best
running conditions through a chemical engineering approach. Taking into account the weak duty factor of the power
supply (1% ), it is shown that the polymer surface is treated with a minimum of energy.
PACS: 52.75.-d – Plasma devices and applications / 81.65.-b – Surface treatments / 82.65.Pa – Surface-enhanced molecular states and other gas-surface interactions
© EDP Sciences, 2001
