TY - JOUR
AU1 - Yun, Jungheum
AU2 - Lee, Sunghun
AU3 - Bae, Tae‐Sung
AU4 - Yun, Youngmok
AU5 - Lee, Seunghoon
AU6 - Kwon, Jung‐Dae
AU7 - Lee, Gun‐Hwan
AB - This study discloses (i) the chemical and morphological modifications in acrylate hard‐coat and bare polyethylene terephthalate polymers occurring in the course of Ar plasma treatments and (ii) the effects of these modifications on the adhesion, barrier performance, and cohesion of silicon oxide coatings deposited on the polymers. It is concluded that the deterioration in these coating properties is dominated by the formation of nanoscopic globular polymer protrusions on the polymer surface as a result of plasma treatment. The protrusions evolve even under very mild plasma conditions in which an ion fluence of less than 1 × 1016 ions · cm−2 is applied with low‐energy ion irradiation of 6 eV. The polymer protrusions dictate the nucleation and subsequent growth of a coating by promoting the development of a three‐dimensional granular morphology in the coating. At the initial oxide nucleation stage, the wetting behavior of silicon oxide on the polymer surface in the presence of nanoscopic protrusions is directly limited by the area number density and size of the protrusions. Incomplete wetting of the protrusions with a silicon oxide coating hinders adhesion between the oxide and the polymer surface. The reduction in the contact area between the oxide and the protrusions is identified as the reason that a weak boundary layer forms at the oxide–polymer interface. Furthermore, the formation of nanoscopic defects, predominantly pinholes, is inevitable in the granular coating morphology on the polymer protrusions and weakens the oxide coating's barrier performance and cohesion strength. Variations in the polar surface free energy and chemical composition of the plasma‐treated polymer surface are irrelevant to the wetting dynamics whenever the protrusions develop on the polymer surface. The effects of the polar surface free energy and chemical composition are valid only to the extent that the plasma treatment improves the wettability of a polymer surface without protrusion formation.
TI - Adhesive and Structural Failures of Oxide Coatings on Plasma‐Treated Polymers
JF - Plasma Processes and Polymers
DO - 10.1002/ppap.201100016
DA - 2011-09-22
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/wiley/adhesive-and-structural-failures-of-oxide-coatings-on-plasma-treated-de0Fv1wtfZ
SP - 815
EP - 831
VL - 8
IS - 9
DP - DeepDyve
ER -