Surface Treatment of Polypropylene Films Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge with Magnetic Field

Atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma is of interest for industrial applications. In this study, polypropylene (PP) films are modified by a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) with a non-uniform magnetic field in air at atmospheric pressure. The surface properties of the PP films before and after a DBD treatment are studied by using contact angle measurement, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The effect of treatment time on the surface modification with and without a magnetic field is investigated. It is found that the hydrophilic improvement depends on the treatment time and magnetic field. It is also found that surface roughness and oxygen-containing groups are introduced onto the PP film surface after the DBD treatment. Surface roughness and oxygen-containing polar functional groups of the PP films increase with the magnetic induction density. The functional groups are identified as C–O, C=O and O–C=O by using XPS analysis. It is concluded that the hydrophilic improvement of PP films treated with a magnetic field is due to a greater surface roughness and more oxygen-containing groups.