Volume 60, Issue 12 pp. 2227-2238
Article

Hydrocarbon barrier performance of plasma-surface-modified polyethylene

Y. Lin

Y. Lin

Department of Chemical Engineering and Center for Surface Science and Plasma Technology, University of Missouri–Columbia, Missouri 65211

Search for more papers by this author
H. Yasuda

Corresponding Author

H. Yasuda

Department of Chemical Engineering and Center for Surface Science and Plasma Technology, University of Missouri–Columbia, Missouri 65211

Department of Chemical Engineering and Center for Surface Science and Plasma Technology, University of Missouri–Columbia, Missouri 65211===Search for more papers by this author

Abstract

Plasma modifications were applied on the inner surfaces of high-density polyethylene bottles. The methods applied include Ar gas plasma treatment, plasma polymerization with tetrafluoroethylene (TFE), trimethylsilane (TMS) + O2 (1:4), CH4, and C2H2 monomers, plasmainduced acrylic acid grafting polymerization, and C2H2 plasma polymerization plus acrylic acid plasma polymerization. Solvent weight-loss data are reported primarily for the n-hexane/HDPE bottle system. The best permeation reduction factor of 0.03 was obtained with C2H2 plasma polymerization at a high energy level followed by acrylic acid plasma polymerization at a low energy level. C2H2 plasma polymerization at an energy level of 1010 J/kg and C2H2 plasma polymerization followed by acrylic acid grafting polymerization offer a similar permeation reduction factor of 0.07. A combination of improved surface polarity and tightness of the surface is responsible for remarkable reductions in permeation rates. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.