Comparison of the wetting behaviour of polyamides presented as particles and films—Influence of a plasma microwave treatment

The wettability of two types of polyamide powder (ORGASOL® and RILSAN), differing by their shape and chain ends, has been studied by three methods: inverse gas chromatography, capillary ascension and contact angle measurement on films obtained by the compression at room temperature of the powders. The results are compared with the contact angles measured on the films realized with the melted powders. All the techniques give the same classification of the wettability of the two kinds of polyamides but not the same absolute values of contact angles. In particular, the influence of the shape of the particles has been shown on ORGASOL® by capillary ascension and by contact angle performed on films obtained by compression at room temperature of the powder. A N2/O2 plasma treatment applied to the particles leads to an increase of the water wettability of the powders but the treatment was found less efficient than on the melt powder based films.