Surface modification of tube inner wall by transferred atmospheric pressure plasma

Tubes are indispensable in our daily life, mechanical engineering and biomedical fields. However, the practical applications of tubes are sometimes limited by their poor wettability. Reported herein is hydrophilization of the tube inner wall by transferred atmospheric pressure plasma (TAPP). An Ar atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) is used to induce He TAPP inside polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tube to perform inner wall surface modification. Optical emission spectrum (OES) is used to investigate the distribution of active species, which are known as enablers for surface modification, along the TAPP. Tubes' surface properties demonstrate that after TAPP treatment, the wettability of the tube inner wall is well improved due to the decrease of surface roughness, the removal of surface fluorine and introduction of oxygen. Notably, a deep surface modification can significantly retard the aging of the obtained hydrophilicity. The results presented here clearly demonstrate the great potential of TAPP for surface modification of the inner wall of tube or other hollow bodies, and thus a uniform, effective and long lasting surface modification of tube with any length can be easily realized by moving the tube along its axis. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.