Characterization of an industrial plasma process to treat fluoropolymers and polyethylene terephthalate for the solar energy industry

最近，世界上许多国家提出的绿色气体减排战略导致了**主要条约的签署，如巴黎协定。基本上，这些协议侧重于可能大幅减少二氧化碳产量的两个主要载体。一方面，大量的努力旨在**最大限度地减少能源消耗，另一方面，开发更环保的能源生产**设施。正是在这种情况下，圣戈班加拿大公司开发了一种聚合物薄膜，用于**房屋和建筑窗户的表面。从本质上讲，这项技术利用了**聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯(PET)，它高度吸收紫外线。一旦安装在窗户上，这种聚合物薄膜**就会捕获热量并将其引导回房间，从而在较凉爽的月份改善整体舒适性，**同时降低能源消耗并帮助节省能源。在较温暖的月份，它将太阳热反射到窗户之外，降低了室内降温的需求和成本。然而，与大多数聚合物一样，由于PET的表面能很低，因此在制造层压板或在其上印刷各种油墨时，它并不是一个特别好的候选材料。圣戈班还寻求开发能够使积聚高效**光伏设备最大化太阳能转换产量的材料。该战略将利用氟化聚合物在整个紫外线和可见光光谱范围内的**低吸收率。一旦应用在光伏设备的**顶部，由氟化聚合物制成的薄膜能够保护硅基设备**免受环境条件的影响，同时将通过聚合物薄膜的光能损失降至最低。这限制了**由必要的设备保护造成的太阳能生产的损失。不幸的是，**氟化聚合物在目标应用中的使用受到其粘附性差的限制，当需要**将其粘合到任何设备上时。因此，该项目的目标将是描述一种工业等离子体**过程，以改性PET和氟聚合物的表面，从而使它们能够与任何其他**材料组装。

The green gas reduction strategies put forward by many countries all over the world recently led to the**signatures of major treaties, such as the Paris agreement. Basically, these agreements focus on the two main**vectors that may drastically lead to a decrease in CO2 production. On one hand, much efforts are directed to**minimizing energy consumption while, on the other hand, more environmentally friendly energy production**facilities are developed. It is in this context that Saint-Gobain Canada Inc. developed a polymer thin film to be**applied on the surface of house and building windows. Essentially, this technology takes advantage of**polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which highly absorbs UV light. Once installed on windows, this polymer**film captures heat and directs it back into the room, thus improving overall comfort during cooler months,**while lowering energy use and helping to save energy. In warmer months, it reflects solar heat away from**windows, reducing the need and cost for interior cooling. However, as most polymers, PET is not particularly a**good candidate when comes the time to make laminates out of it or to print inks of all kinds on it, because of its**low surface energy. Saint-Gobain also seeks to develop materials that will enable buildind-up efficient**photovoltaic devices to maximize the yield of solar energy conversion.The strategy will take advantage of the**low absorptivity of fluorinated polymers throughout the whole UV and visible spectral range. Once applied on**top of photovoltaic devices, thin films made of fluorinated polymers enable to protect the silicon-based devices**against environmental conditions while minimizing the light energy loss through the polymer films. This limits**the loss of solar energy production caused by the necessary device protection. Unfortunately, the use of**fluorinated polymers for the targeted application is limited by their poor adhesiveness when comes the time to**glue them to any devices. Accordingly, the objective of this project will be to characterize an industrial plasma**process to modify the surface of PET and fluoropolymers, therefore enabling assembling them with any other**materials.