scholarly journals Stability of Ar/O2 Plasma-Treated Polypropylene Membranes Applied for Membrane Distillation

Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 531
Author(s):  
Marek Gryta ◽  
Wirginia Tomczak
Keyword(s):  
Surface Modification ◽  
Plasma Treatment ◽  
Treatment Time ◽  
Stable Process ◽  
Membrane Distillation ◽  
Gas Composition ◽  
Modification Process ◽  
O2 Plasma Treatment ◽  
O2 Plasma

In the present work, Ar/O2 plasma treatment was used as a surface modification tool for polypropylene (PP) membranes. The effect of the plasma conditions on the properties of the modified PP surface has been investigated. For this purpose, the influence of gas composition and its flow rate, plasma power excitation as well as treatment time on the contact angle of PP membranes has been investigated. The properties of used membranes were determined after various periods of time: immediately after the modification process as well as after one, four and five years of storage. Moreover, the used membranes were evaluated in terms of their performance in long-term MD process. Through detailed studies, we demonstrated that the performed plasma treatment process effectively enhanced the performance of the modified membranes. In addition, it was shown that the surface modification did not affect the degradation of the membrane matrix. Indeed, the used membranes maintained stable process properties throughout the studied period.

scholarly journals Photolithographic Patterning of Cytop with Limited Contact Angle Degradation

Micromachines ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yalei Qiu ◽  
Shu Yang ◽  
Kuang Sheng
Keyword(s):  
Contact Angle ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Plasma Treatment ◽  
Treatment Time ◽  
Hydrophobic Surface ◽  
Deposition Process ◽  
Electrowetting On Dielectric ◽  
Plasma Treatment Time ◽  
O2 Plasma Treatment ◽  
O2 Plasma

Cytop is a commercially available amorphous fluoropolymer with excellent characteristics including electric insulation, water and oil repellency, chemical resistance, and moisture-proof property, making it an attractive material as hydrophobic layers in electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) devices. However, its highly hydrophobic surface makes it difficult for photoresists to be directly coated on the surface. To pattern Cytop, plasma treatment prior to applying photoresists is required to promote the adhesion between the photoresist and the Cytop coating. This approach inevitably causes hydrophobicity loss in the final EWOD devices. Thus, a damage-reduced recipe for Cytop patterning is urgently needed. In this paper, we first characterized the damage caused by two categories of surface treatment methods: plasma treatment and metal treatment. Parameters such as plasma gas source (Ar/O2), plasma treatment time (0–600 s), metal target (Al/Cu/Cr/Au), metal deposition process (magnetron sputtering or e-beam evaporation) were varied. Film thickness, wettability, and roughness were quantified by ellipsometry measurements, contact angle measurements, and atom force microscope (AFM), respectively. We then evaluated the effectiveness of annealing in damage reduction. Experimental results show that: (1) annealing is necessary in restoring hydrophobicity as well as smoothing surfaces; (2) specified film thickness can be obtained by controlling plasma treatment time; (3) “Ar/O2 plasma treatment + an AZ5214 soft mask + annealing” is a feasible recipe; (4) “an Al/Cu/Cr/Au hard mask + annealing” is feasible as well.

Influence of O2 plasma treatment on NiO x layer in perovskite solar cells

2018 ◽  
Vol 57 (4S) ◽  
pp. 04FS07 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshihiko Nishihara ◽  
Masayuki Chikamatsu ◽  
Said Kazaoui ◽  
Tetsuhiko Miyadera ◽  
Yuji Yoshida
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Plasma Treatment ◽  
Perovskite Solar Cells ◽  
O2 Plasma Treatment ◽  
O2 Plasma
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