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Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing, July 2014, Volume 34, Issue 4, pp 917-932.
Pieter Cools, Nathalie De Geyter, Els Vanderleyden, Peter Dubruel, Rino Morent.
- Research Unit Plasma Technology (RUPT), Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Engineering, Ghent University, St-Pietersnieuwstraat 41 B4, 9000, Ghent, Belgium and
- Polymer Chemistry and Biomaterials Research Group (PBM), Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 S4bis, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
Abstract
A medium pressure (5 kPa) dielectric barrier discharge operating in different atmospheres (air and argon) is used to develop a fast and easy way to remove adsorbed carbon contamination. Chemical and physical changes at the sample surface after plasma treatment are studied, making use of contact angle measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis and atomic force microscopy measurements. The obtained results are compared with other chemical and thermal treatments typically used. This comparison shows that plasma treatment at medium pressure is able to remove up to 20 % more of the adsorbed carbon compared to the classical cleaning methods, while at the same time being less aggressive, leaving the sub-surface chemistry unchanged. Moreover, the analysis techniques give a fundamental insight in the reactions processes at the titanium surface when exposed to a medium pressure plasma.
