Surface Modification of Polyimide Film by Dielectric Barrier Discharge at Atmospheric Pressure

In this paper, polyimide (PI) films are modified using an atmospheric pressure plasma generated by a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in argon. Surface performance of PI film and its dependence on exposure time from 0 s to 300 s are investigated by dynamic water contact angle (WCA), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in attenuated total multiple reflection mode (FTIR-ATR). The study demonstrates that dynamic WCA exhibits a minimum with 40 s plasma treatment, and evenly distributed nano-dots and shadow concaves appeared for 40 s and 12 s Ar plasma treatment individually. A short period of plasma modification can contribute to the scission of the imide ring and the introduction of C–O and C=O (–COOH) by detailed analysis of FTIR-ATR. (paper)