10 ns pulsed atmospheric air plasma for uniform treatment of polymeric surfaces

This letter reports an experimental study of a 10 ns pulsed dielectric barrier discharge in atmospheric air, excited with a train of 65 ns voltage pulses at a repetition frequency of 5 kHz. It is shown that these ultrashort pulses produce a homogenous discharge with very high electron density in excess of 1013 cm-3 and low gas temperature, which are particularly desirable for uniform treatment of thermally sensitive polymer films. Their treatment of polypropylene films is found to introduce microscale surface patterns as well as various carbon-oxygen bonds, both useful for improving the hydrophilic properties of polymeric materials.