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Special Issue "Plasma Processes for Polymers"

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A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Physics and Theory".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2020) | Viewed by 13162

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Prof. Dr. Jian-Zhang Chen

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Guest Editor

Graduate Institute of Applied Mechanics, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Interests: plasma processing; atmospheric pressure plasma; dielectric barrier discharge; flexible electronics; solar cells; supercapacitors; metal oxides; wide-bandgap materials
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Prof. Dr. Shih-Hang Chang

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National I-lan University, I-lan County 26047, Taiwan
Interests: atmospheric pressure plasma materials processing technology; surface modifications; organic and polymer coatings; shape memory alloys; high damping materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plasma technology is a versatile tool that has been applied in many materials surface modification and deposition processes. Non-thermal low-pressure plasma has been extensively used in industries. The recent development of atmospheric-pressure plasma opens up more plasma applications in a regular pressure environment and roll-to-roll processes. Abundant ions and electrons of plasmas are highly reactive with many materials. These reactive plasma species in conjunction with a heat and ion bombardment effect create many materials processing possibilities, enabling an ultrafast material processing capability, and rapid surface activation and cleaning. Plasma has been applied in many polymer processes such as plasma polymerization, plasma polymer grafting, plasma etching on polymers, plasma surface modification and treatment of polymers, plasma surface cleaning prior to polymer deposition or glue bonding, and interfacial engineering of organic–organic and organic–inorganic interfaces.

This Special Issue is concerned with all plasma processes related to polymers, for example, plasma polymerization, plasma surface treatment and modification of polymers, plasma treatment prior to polymer or organic coating, plasma processing for polymer-based composites, plasma etching of polymers, plasma polymer grafting, plasma syntheses of organic-inorganic hybrid materials, and interfacial engineering of polymers. Papers related to material characterizations of plasma-processed polymers and new applications of plasma technology to polymer processing are all invited.

Prof. Jian-Zhang Chen
Prof. Shih-Hang Chang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Low-pressure plasma
Non-thermal plasma
Atmospheric pressure plasma
Dielectric barrier discharge
Corona discharge
Etching
Surface treatment
Surface modification
Plasma polymerization
Conductive polymer
Polymer
Composites
Organic–inorganic hybrid materials
Surface coating
Paint
Adhesion
Bonding

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Study of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) Kinetics Modification Treated by Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) Plasma

João Freire de Medeiros Neto

Ivan Alves de Souza

Michelle Cequeira Feitor

Talita Galvão Targino

Gutembergy Ferreira Diniz

Maxwell Santana Libório

Rômulo Ribeiro Magalhães Sousa

and

Thercio Henrique de Carvalho Costa

Polymers 2020, 12(10), 2422; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12102422 - 21 Oct 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2684

Abstract

In this work, the plasma was used in the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) technique for modifying the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) surface. The treatments were performed via argon or oxygen, for 10 min, at a frequency of 820 Hz, voltage of 20 kV, 2 mm distance between electrodes, and atmospheric pressure. The efficiency of the plasma was determined through the triple Langmuir probe to check if it had enough energy to promote chemical changes on the material surface. Physicochemical changes were diagnosed through surface characterization techniques such as contact angle, attenuated total reflection to Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray excited photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Plasma electronics temperature showed that it has enough energy to break or form chemical bonds on the material surface, impacting its wettability directly. The wettability test was performed before and after treatment through the sessile drop, using distilled water, glycerin, and dimethylformamide, to the profile of surface tensions by the Fowkes method, analyzing the contact angle variation. ATR-FTIR and XPS analyses showed that groups and bonds were altered or generated on the surface when compared with the untreated sample. The AFM showed a change in roughness, and this directly affected the increase of wettability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Processes for Polymers)

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Open AccessArticle

Synthesis and Properties of Thiophene and Aniline Copolymer Using Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jets Copolymerization Technique

and

Polymers 2020, 12(10), 2225; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12102225 - 28 Sep 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2206

Abstract

This paper investigates the properties of thiophene and aniline copolymer (TAC) films deposited by using atmospheric pressure plasma jets copolymerization technique relative to various blending ratios of aniline and thiophene monomer for synthesizing the donor–acceptor conjugated copolymers. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and atomic force microscopy are utilized to measure the surface morphology, roughness and film thickness of TAC films. Structural and chemical properties of TAC films are investigated by Fourier transforms-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. FE-SEM images show that the film thickness and nanoparticles size of the TAC films increase with an addition thiophene monomer in the aniline monomer. FE-SEM, FT-IR results show that TAC films are successfully synthesized on glass substrates in all cases. The iodine doped TAC film on the Si substrate with interdigitated electrodes shows the lowest electrical resistance at blending condition of thiophene of 25%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Processes for Polymers)

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Open AccessArticle

Effects of a Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) on Characteristics of Polyaniline Nanoparticles Synthesized by a Solution Plasma Process with an Ar Gas Bubble Channel

and

Polymers 2020, 12(9), 1939; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12091939 - 27 Aug 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2091

Abstract

The quality of polyaniline nanoparticles (PANI NPs) synthesized in plasma polymerization depends on the discharge characteristics of a solution plasma process (SPP). In this paper, the low temperature dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) is introduced to minimize the destruction of aniline molecules induced by the direct current (DC) spark discharge. By adopting the new electrode structure coupled with a gas channel, a low temperature DBD is successfully implemented in a SPP, for the first time, thus inducing an effective interaction between the Ar plasma and aniline monomer. We examine the effects of a low temperature DBD on characteristics of polyaniline nanoparticles synthesized by a SPP with an Ar gas bubble channel. As a result, both carbonization of aniline monomer and erosion of the electrode are significantly reduced, which is confirmed by analyses of the synthesized PANI NPs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Processes for Polymers)

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Open AccessArticle

Application of Atmospheric-Pressure-Plasma-Jet Modified Flexible Graphite Sheets in Reduced-Graphene-Oxide/Polyaniline Supercapacitors

and

Polymers 2020, 12(6), 1228; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12061228 - 28 May 2020

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2887

Abstract

In this study, flexible and low-cost graphite sheets modified by atmospheric pressure plasma jet are applied to reduced-graphene-oxide/polyaniline supercapacitors. Surface treatment by atmospheric pressure plasma jet can make the hydrophobic surface of graphite into a hydrophilic surface and improve the adhesion of the screen-printed reduced-graphene-oxide/polyaniline on the graphite sheets. After the fabrication of reduced-graphene-oxide/polyaniline supercapacitors with polyvinyl alcohol/H₂SO₄ gel electrolyte, pseudo-capacitance and electrical double capacitance can be clearly identified by the measurement of cyclic voltammetry. The fabricated supercapacitor exhibits specific capacitance value of 227.32 F/g and areal capacitance value of 28.37 mF/cm² with a potential scan rate of 2 mV/s. Meanwhile, the capacitance retention rate can reach 86.9% after 1000-cycle cyclic voltammetry test. A light-emitting diode can be lit by the fabricated reduced-graphene-oxide/polyaniline supercapacitors, which confirms that the supercapacitors function well and can potentially be used in a circuit. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Processes for Polymers)

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Open AccessArticle

Surface Modification of FeCoNiCr Medium-Entropy Alloy (MEA) Using Octadecyltrichlorosilane and Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Jet

and

Polymers 2020, 12(4), 788; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12040788 - 02 Apr 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2559

Abstract

Surface condition and corrosion resistance are major concerns when metallic materials are going to be utilized for applications. In this study, FeCoNiCr medium-entropy alloy (MEA) is first treated with a nitrogen atmospheric-pressure plasma jet (APPJ) and then coated with octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) for the surface modification. The hydrophobicity of the FeCoNiCr MEA was effectively improved by OTS-coating treatment, APPJ treatment, or the combination of both treatments (OTS-coated APPJ-treated), which increased the water contact angle from 54.49° of the bare MEA to 70.56°, 93.94°, and 88.42°, respectively. Potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests demonstrate that the APPJ-treated FeCoNiCr MEA exhibits the best anti-corrosion properties. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that APPJ treatment at 700 °C oxidizes all the alloying elements in the FeCoNiCr MEA, which demonstrates that a short APPJ treatment of two-minute is effective in forming a metal oxide layer on the surface to improve the corrosion resistance of FeCoNiCr MEA. These results provide a convenient and rapid method for improving surface properties of FeCoNiCr MEA. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasma Processes for Polymers)

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