Chemical modification of polyethylene surfaces in a nitrogen corona
Chemical modification of polyethylene surfaces in a nitrogen corona
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氮气电晕中聚乙烯表面的化学改性
DOI:
10.1002/pol.1976.130140410
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发表时间:
1976
期刊:
影响因子:
--
通讯作者:
D. Goring
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
G. Courval;D. Gray;D. Goring
Polyethylene film is widely used for packaging purposes, but it is often necessary to modify the surface of the polyethylene (PE) to improve adhesion or printability (1). It has been shown (2) that corona discharge treatment of polyethylene leads to marked increases in its autohesion and wetting. In spite of the fact that this method of surface modification is commonly used industrially, there is still some controversy (3) over the mechanism of the process. Although it has been shown (2) by multiple internal-reflectance infrared spectrometry that carbonyl groups are formed on the surface of PE sheets treated in an oxygen corona, no chemical modification of the surface has been detected after treatment in a nitrogen corona, despite the similar effects obtained in the surface properties after such treatment. It has been shown (4), however, that the attachment of amine groups to the surface of various polymers occurs when the polymer is placed in an ammonia or a nitrogen and hydrogen plasma. There is also some indirect evidence (5, 6) that exposure of polyethylene film to a nitrogen plasma may form nitrogen compounds on the polymer surface. Thus, it seemed likely that exposure of PE to a corona discharge in a nitrogen atmosphere would introduce nitrogen containing groups onto the polymer surface. In the present work, the chemical effects of such corona treatment on polyethylene surfaces were sought with the aid of electron spectroscopy (ESCA) and a dye adsorption method. The use of ESCA as a method of studying surfaces is now well established (7), and this technique has recently been used (8) to demonstrate that nitrogen-containing groups are formed on the surface of cellulose acetate membranes after exposure to a nitrogen plasma. If nitrogen were, in fact, to react chemically with the PE surface, the formation of basic groups would be expected, and under appropriate conditions such groups should adsorb acidic dyes from aqueous solution.