Surface modification of PMMA polymer and its composites with PC(61)BM fullerene derivative using an atmospheric pressure microwave argon plasma sheet

This paper presents the results of experimental investigations of the plasma surface modification of a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymer and PMMA composites with a [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester fullerene derivative (PC(61)BM). An atmospheric pressure microwave (2.45 GHz) argon plasma sheet was used. The experimental parameters were: an argon (Ar) flow rate (up to 20 NL/min), microwave power (up to 530 W), number of plasma scans (up to 3) and, the kind of treated material. In order to assess the plasma effect, the possible changes in the wettability, roughness, chemical composition, and mechanical properties of the plasma-treated samples’ surfaces were evaluated by water contact angle goniometry (WCA), atomic force microscopy (AFM), attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The best result concerning the water contact angle reduction was from 83° to 29.7° for the PMMA material. The ageing studies of the PMMA plasma-modified surface showed long term (100 h) improved wettability. As a result of plasma treating, changes in the samples surface roughness parameters were observed, however their dependence on the number of plasma scans is irregular. The ATR-FTIR spectra of the PMMA plasma-treated surfaces showed only slight changes in comparison with the spectra of an untreated sample. The more significant differences were demonstrated by XPS measurements indicating the surface chemical composition changes after plasma treatment and revealing the oxygen to carbon ratio increase from 0.1 to 0.4.