Surface Treatment of Polypropylene (PP) Film by 50 Hz Dielectric Barrier Discharge Produced in Air and Argon/air Mixture at Atmospheric Pressure

Thin films of polypropylene (PP) are treated for improving hydrophilicity using non-thermal plasma generated by 50 Hz line frequency dielectric barrier discharge produced in air and argon/air mixture at atmospheric pressure. PP samples before and after the treatments are studied using contact angle measurements, surface free energy calculations and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Distilled water (H2O), glycerol (C3H8O3) and diiodomethane (CH2I2) are used as test liquids. The contact angle measurements between test liquids and PP samples are used to determine total surface free energy using sessile drop technique. PP films show a remarkable increase in surface free energy after plasma treatment. SEM analysis of the plasma-treated PP films shows that plasma treatment introduces greater roughness on the surface leading to the increased surface free energy. Furthermore, it is found that introducing a small quantity of argon can enhance the surface treatment remarkably.