Modification of the surface properties of polyimide films using oxygen plasma exposure

Abstract EN

Surface modification of polyimide (PI) films by oxygen plasma was studied for technical applications.

The effects of oxygen plasma treatments on the surface properties of PI films were investigated in terms of Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and contact angle measurements.

The AFM results show that the root-mean-squared (RMS) roughness of pristine PI film was 2.5 nm, increasing to 8.5 nm after 5 minutes oxygen plasma treatment.

The surface free energy value of untreated PI film was 42.98 mJ/m2 and increased to 64 mJ/m2 after 5 minutes of oxygen plasma.

The results show a considerable improvement in surface wettabilityy by exposure times as observed by a remarkable decrease in contact angle values.