Laboratory of atmospheric pressure discharges and their applications

Plasma sources for surface treatment of different materials

  • Diffuse Coplanar Surface Barrier Discharge (DCSBD)
  • Prototype ZUP200 for plasma treatment of nonwoven textile
  • Diaphragm pulse discharge generating plasma in liquids
  • Heated plasma reactor with DCSBD generating plasma in pure water vapor
  • Experimental set-up for plasma polymerization 
DCSBD DCSBD2
    Fig. 1. Low temperature DCSBD plasma
Fig. 2. Device ZUP 200 for continuous plasma activation
of narrow strips of thin materials – textiles.

* The device was developed in the frame of
the Project APVV-20-P01505

and it is protected by the international patent application WO 02095115

  

Diaphragm discharge

  Fig. 3. Diaphragm pulse discharge generating plasma in liquids

 

Research areas

  • Breakdown mechanisms in water discharge and plasma generation by the electric pulsed diaphragm discharge in a liquid medium using electrical and optical measurements
  • The changes on surface of the polymeric material treated by non-equilibrium plasma generated in the liquid medium using suitable surface diagnostic methods
  • Surface modifications of different materials after non-equilibrium plasma generated in ambient air (N2, CO2, O2) treatment using suitable surface diagnostic methods (wettability, adhesion properties, ageing)
    • Materials: nonwoven textile, polymers (PP,PET, PTFE, PMMA, PLA, etc.), glass, metals, oxides of metals, wood, silicon wafers and others
  • Preparation of inorganic nanofibers (TiO2Al2O3CeO2, ZnO, ZrO2, etc.) from polymer template technique using low temperature plasma as an alternative to conventional thermal calcination

     

 Zmacavost

 

 
 Fig. 4. Significant increase of wettability of polymer textiles
after short plasma treatment (in the order of seconds)
 Fig. 5. Cleaning and increase of surface energy of common glass
and special glasses (ITO glass used in semiconductor industry

 

 Teflon

 Fig. 6. Improvement of adhesion of non-adhesive polymers (teflon) for further surface modification

 

 

 Fig. 7. Plasma assisted calcination of inorganic nanofibers using DCSBD

 

  Plasma diagnostics methods:

  • Measurement of electrical parameters using current probe (Pearson Electronics Model 6600) and high voltage probe (type VD-100, 10000:1, High Voltage Products GmbH) together with digital oscilloscope (Agilent, DSOX3052A, 500 MHz, 4GSa/s) for accurate recording of the shape of discharge pulses.
  • Study of fast processes associated with formation of the discharge by means of high-speed camera (type pgo.1200s, PCO A.G.)
  • Optical diagnostics of plasmas by means of optical emission spectroscopy: UV-VIS spectrometer (Ocean Optics, USB2000), spectrometer Avantes,
  • Investigation of effect of gases dissolved in form of bubbles in the reaction chamber on discharge ignition and plasma generation.

     

 

Diagnostics of changes on the surface of material:

  • Evaluation of surface energy changes of plasma treated surfaces by means of the contact angle measurement (See System, Krüss DSA 30).
  • The study of surface morphology (SEM, AFM)
  • Elemental analysis (EDX, WDX)
  • The characterization of chemical bonds present on surfaces of plasma treated materials FTIR
  • Chemical composition of surface layer that corresponds to about 10 atomic layers (XPS)

 

Collaboration with:

  • VÚTCH-CHEMITEX spol. s r.o., Žilina
  • Pardam Nanotechnology, s.r.o., Czech Republic
  • Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology
  • Polymer Institute SAS, Bratislava
  • Institute of Materials Research SASm Košice
  • Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology STU, Bratislava
  • Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno
  • University of Innsbruck
  • Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, EMPA, Switzerland

 

Contact:

Doc. RNDr. Anna Zahoranová, PhD.

F2-40

Email: zahoranova(at)fmph.uniba.sk

Phone Nr: +421 2 602 95 529

 

Mgr. Dušan Kováčik, PhD.

F2-37

Email: kovacik(at)fmph.uniba.sk

Phone Nr: +421 2 602 95 616