Surface modification and stability of polymers treated by atmospheric-pressure helium plasma

Abstract

This paper aims to provide an investigation over the surface modification processes of aromatic-structure polymers treated by atmospheric-pressure helium plasma for different exposure time, and an assessment on the stability of modified surfaces. The relation between the plasma-induced surface characteristics, as polarity and degree of oxidation, due to combined functionalization and crosslinking, and the recovery mechanisms conducting to ageing, as short-range reorientation of polar chemical groups, and long-range diffusion and chains relaxation, is explored, showing to depend mainly on the polymer structure.