Plasma fluorination of polyolefins

ESCA and contact angle measurements were used to characterize the surfaces of Polyethylene and polypropylene films exposed to SF6, CF4, and C2F6 plasmas. None of these gases polymerized in the plasma. However, all plasma treatments grafted fluorinated functionalities directly to the polymer surfaces. SF6 plasmas graft fluorine atoms to a polyolefin surface. CF4 plasmas also react by a mechanism dominated by fluorine atoms, but with some contribution from CFx-radical reactions. Although C2F6 does not polymerize, the mechanism of grafting is still dominated by the reactions of CFx radicals. For all gases studied, the lack of polymerization is attributed to competitive ablation and polymerization reactions occurring under conditions of ion bombardment.