The film deposition via atmospheric pressure plasma from ethanol and He mixing gases

In this study, using atmospheric pressure plasma deposition (APPD) treated surface of mixing He gas and ethanol to deposit organic and hydrophilic thin film on glass or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates. Formed peroxide groups in surface by APPD coating which are favorable to surface graft polymerization of thermo-sensitive monomer N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) on the surface. NIPAAm has specific thermo-sensitive property. The results show that after the plasma treatment, new oxygen-containing polar groups such as C-O and O-C=O are generated on the slide glass, and the wettability of substrate is greatly change to hydrophilic. The water contact angle of slide glass or PET surface decreases from 70 degrees Delta +/- 1 to 23 degrees Delta +/- 1 after plasma treatment. While slide glass grafted NIPAAm in wet state would change from colorless to white as temperature higher than lower critical solution temperature (LCST) is 33 degrees C. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.