This volume compiles essential contributions to the most innovative fields of Plasma Processes and Polymers. High-quality contributions cover the fields of plasma deposition, plasma treatment of polymers and other organic compounds, plasma processes under partial vacuum and at atmospheric pressure, biomedical, textile, automotive, and optical applications as well as surface treatment of bulk materials, clusters, particles and powders. This unique collection of refereed papers is based on the best contributions presented at the 16th International Symposium on Plasma Chemistry in Taormina, Italy (ISPC-16, June 2003). A high class reference of relevance to a large audience in plasma community as well as in the area of its industrial applications.

Table of Contents:
Preface xvii List of Contributors xix Part I Plasma Deposition of Thin Films 1 1 Polymer Surface Modification with Monofunctional Groups of Different Type and Density 3 J. Friedrich, G. Kühn, R. mix 1.1 Introduction 3 1.2 Experimental 9 1.3 Results 10 1.3.1 Kinetics of the Deposition of Copolymers 10 1.3.2 Variation of the Density of Functional Groups 10 1.3.3 Structure and Stability of Copolymers 14 1.3.4 Relation between Functional Groups of Copolymers and Surface Energy 15 1.3.5 Relation between Functional Groups of Copolymers and Adhesion 15 1.4 Discussion 19 2 RF-Plasma Deposition of SiOX and a-C:H as Barrier Coatings on Polymers 23 D. Hegemann, U. Schütz, C. Oehr 2.1 Introduction 23 2.2 Experimental 24 2.3 Results and Discussion 27 2.4 Conclusions 35 3 Upscaling of Plasma Processes for Carboxyl Functionalization 39 V. Sciarratta, D. Hegemann, M. Müller, U. Vohrer, C. Oehr 3.1 Introduction 39 3.2 Experimental 40 3.2.1 Materials 40 3.2.2 Plasma-Deposition Apparatus 40 3.2.3 Characterization Techniques 42 3.3 Results and Discussion 43 3.4 Conclusions 48 4 Deposition of Fluorocarbon Films on Al and SiO2 Surfaces in High-Density Fluorocarbon Plasmas: Selectivity and Surface Wettability 51 A. Tserepi, P. Bayiati, E. Gogolides, K. Misiakos, Ch. Cardinaud 4.1 Introduction 51 4.2 Experimental 52 4.3 Results and Discussion 54 4.3.1 Etching and Deposition in C4 F8 Plasmas 54 4.3.2 Etching and Deposition Experiments in CHF3 /CH4 Plasmas 58 4.3.3 FC Film Characterization: Chemical Composition 60 4.4 Conclusions 63 5 Hot-wire Plasma Deposition of Doped DLC Films on Fluorocarbon Polymers for Biomedical Applications 65 V.N. Vasilets, A. Hirose, Q. Yang, A. Singh, R. Sammynaiken, Yu.M. Shulga, A.V. Kuznetsov, V.I. Sevastianov 5.1 Introduction 65 5.2 Experimental Details 66 5.2.1 Preparation of Samples 66 5.2.2 Plasma Deposition Technique 66 5.2.3 Surface Characterization 67 5.2.4 Platelet-Adhesion Technique 68 5.3 Results and Discussion 68 5.3.1 Characterization of Deposited Film 68 5.3.2 Platelet Adhesion 73 6 Properties of Silicon Nitride by Room-Temperature Inductively Coupled Plasma Deposition 77 H. Zhou, C. Sim, A. Glidle. C. Hodson, R. Kinsey, C. D. W. Wilkinson 6.1 Introduction 77 6.2 Experimental Systems 78 6.3 Results and Discussion 79 6.4 Conclusions 85 7 Structural Analysis of Diamond-like Carbon Films Deposited by RF (13.56 MHz) in a Methane Gas Plasma Atmosphere 87 M. Ouchabane, M. Aoucher, A. Sekkal, K. Henda and H. Lahmar 7.1 Introduction 87 7.2 Experimental Procedure 88 7.2.1 Deposition Apparatus 88 7.2.2 Experimental Conditions 89 7.3 Results and Discussions 90 7.3.1 X-ray Auger Electron Spectroscopy (XAES) 90 7.3.2 Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) 91 7.4 Conclusion 93 8 Rate constant of HMDSO + O reaction in plasma afterglow 95 Vít Kudrle, Vojtěch Doležal, Antonín Tálsk™, Jan Janča 8.1 Introduction 95 8.2 Experimental 96 8.3 Calculation of the rate constant 97 8.4 Results and discussion 99 8.5 Conclusion 101 9 Plasma-Enhanced Thin-Film Deposition On Polycarbonates 103 B. Ulejczyk, T. Opalinska, L. Karpinski, K. Schmidt-Szalowski 9.1 Introduction 103 9.2 Experimental 104 9.3 Results 106 9.4 Discussion 112 9.5 Conclusions 114 10 Molecular Tailoring Coating on TiO2 Nanoparticle Surface by Plasma Polymerization 117 Jing Zhang, Feng Zhu, Changnian Shi, Li Sun, Ying Wang, Zhan Cheng, Ping Ji, Qinyu Yang, Ying Guo, Rongming Zhou, Hankun Xie, W. J. van Ooij, Jie Lian,Donglu Shi 10.1 Introduction 117 10.2 Experimental 119 10.3 Results and Discussions 120 10.3.1 Surface Morphology 120 10.3.2 Surface Molecular Structure 122 10.3.3 Dispersion Behavior of AA-Plasma-Polymer-Coated TiO2 Nanoparticles 124 10.4 Conclusion 127 Part II Plasma-Grafting of Functional Groups 129 11 Introduction of Acidic Functional Groups onto the Surface of Activated Carbons by Atmospheric-Pressure Nonthermal Plasma 131 Satoshi Kodama and Hidetoshi Sekiguchi 11.1 Introduction 131 11.2 Experimental 132 11.2.1 Materials 132 11.2.2 Plasma Treatment of the Samples 132 11.2.3 Characterization 136 11.3 Results and Discussion 137 11.3.1 Surface Chemistry 137 11.3.2 Surface Morphology 140 11.4 Conclusion 142 12 Treatment of Flexible Polyethylene with Low-pressure Plasma to Improve its Painting Properties 143 Asunción Martínez-García, Alejandra Segura-Domingo, Ana Sánchez-Reche, Santiago Gisbert-Soler 12.1 Introduction 143 12.2 Experimental 144 12.2.1 Materials 144 12.2.2 Experimental Techniques 144 12.3 Results and Discussion 145 12.3.1 Effect of Treatment Time 145 12.3.2 Effect of Plasma Power 150 12.3.3 Effect of the Pressure inside the Chamber 152 12.3.4 Durability of the Treatment Effect 153 12.4 Conclusions 154 13 Surface Modification of PVDF by Microwave Plasma Treatment for Electroless Metallization 157 Mihaela Pascu, Dominique Debarnot, S. Durand, Fabienne Poncin-Epaillard 13.1 Introduction 157 13.2 Materials and Methods 158 13.3 Results and Discussion 160 13.3.1 Contact-Angle and Weight-Loss Measurements 160 13.3.2 Aging Studies 166 13.3.3 XPS results 168 13.3.4 Titration of the Surface Amino Groups 170 13.3.5 Wide-Angle X-ray Diffraction 171 13.3.6 Preliminary Results on PVDF Metallization 173 13.3.7 Assays on Piezoelectric Coefficient Determination 174 13.4 Conclusion 175 14 Different Performance of Ar, O2 and CO2 RF Plasmas in the Adhesion of Thermoplastic Rubber to Polyurethane Adhesive 177 Ana B. Ortiz-Magán, M. Mercedes Pastor-Blas, José Miguel Martín-Martínez 14.1 Introduction 177 14.2 Experimental 178 14.2.1 Materials 178 14.2.2 Experimental Techniques 179 14.3 Results and Discussion 180 14.4 Conclusions 191 15 Low-temperature Plasma Treatment of Dry Empress-Tree Seeds 193 N. Puač, Z.Lj. Petrović, S.Živković, Z. Giba, D. Grubišić and A.R. Đorđević 15.1 Introduction 193 15.2 Experimental Setup 194 15.2.1 Power Transmitted to the Plasma 195 15.3 Paulownia tomentosa Steud 197 15.4 Results and Discussion 198 15.5 Conclusion 202 16 Ion-induced Chemical and Structural Modification of Polymer Surfaces 205 G. Suchaneck, M. Guenther, G. Gerlach, K. Sahre, K.-J. Eichhorn, B. Wolf, A. Deyneka, L. Jastrabik 16.1 Ion Modification of Polymers 205 16.1.1 Modification of Polymer Properties 206 16.1.2 Energy Transfer from Ions to Polymer 206 16.1.3 Ion-modified Polymers for Sensor Application 206 16.1.4 Objective of this Work 207 16.2 Experimental 208 16.2.1 Sample Preparation 208 16.2.2 Evaluation of Structural Changes 209 16.2.3 Evaluation of Moisture Uptake 210 16.2.4 Electrical Measurements 210 16.3 Results and Discussion 211 16.3.1 Structural Changes 211 16.3.2 Moisture Uptake 216 16.3.3 Electrical Conductivity 219 16.4 Conclusions 219 17 Plasma-Enhanced Fluorination of Nitrile Butadiene Elastomer: an XPS study 223 A. Tressaud, E. Durand, C. Labrugère 17.1 Introduction 223 17.2 Experimental Procedure 224 17.2.1 Elastomer Samples 224 17.2.2 Fluorination Procedure: The Plasma-enhanced Fluorination (PEF) 224 17.2.3 XPS Characterization 225 17.3 Results and Comparison of the XPS Spectra 226 17.3.1 Plasma-enhanced Fluorination 226 17.3.2 Comparison with Direct F2-gas Fluorination 228 17.4 Concluding Remarks 231 18 Plasma-Surface Modification of Styrene-Butadiene Elastomers for Improved Adhesion 233 J. Tyczkowski, I. Krawczyk, B. Woźniak 18.1 Introduction 233 18.2 Experimental 236 18.2.1 Materials 236 18.2.2 Plasma Treatment 236 18.2.3 Wet-chemical Treatment 237 18.2.4 Surface-characterization Techniques 237 18.3 Results and Discussion 238 18.3.1 Preliminary Peel Test 238 18.3.2 Plasma Chlorination 238 18.3.3 CO2 and O2 Plasma Treatment 246 18.4 Conclusion 250 19 PET Surface after Plasma or Laser Treatment: Study of the Chemical Modifications and Adhesive Properties 253 P. Laurens, S. Petit, P. Bertrand, F. Arćfi-Khonsari 19.1 Introduction 253 19.2 Experimental Details 254 19.3 Results 257 19.3.1 Untreated PET 257 19.3.2 Plasma-treated PET 259 19.3.3 Laser-treated PET 260 19.4 Discussion 264 19.4.1 Surface Oxidation 264 19.4.2 Surface Degradation 265 19.4.3 Al–PET Adhesion 267 19.5 Conclusion 268 20 Plasma Pretreatments and Treatments on Polytetrafluoroethylene for Reducing the Hydrophobic Recovery 271 P. Favia, A. Milella, L. Iacobelli, R. d’Agostino 20.1 Introduction 271 20.2 Experimental 273 20.3 Results and Discussion 274 20.4 Conclusions 279 21 Oxygen-plasma Modification of Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (POSS) containing Copolymers for Micro- and Nanofabrication 281 N. Vourdas, V. Bellas, E. Tegou, O. Brani, V. Constantoudis, P. Argitis, A. Tserepi and E. Gogolides, D. Eon, G. Cartry, C. Cardinaud 21.1 Introduction and Experimental Conditions 281 21.2 Results and Discussion 284 21.2.1 Etching of POSS Copolymers in Oxygen Plasmas 284 12.2 Surface Roughness of POSS Polymers after Plasma Treatment 287 21.3 Conclusions 291 Part III Plasma and Life Science 293 22 Radicals of Plasma Needle Detected with Fluorescent Probe 295 Ingrid E. Kieft, Joep J.B.N. van Berkel, Erik R. Kieft, Eva Stoffels 22.1 Introduction 295 22.2 Experimental 297 22.2.1 Plasma Needle 297 22.2.2 Raman Scattering 298 22.2.3 Fluorescent Probe 298 22.2.4 Calibration with NO Radicals 299 22.2.5 Plasma Treatment 301 22.3 Results and Discussion 301 22.3.1 Raman Scattering 301 22.3.2 The Fluorescent Probe Measurements 302 22.4 Conclusions 307 23 RF-Plasma Treatment on the Inside of Small Functional Devices for Biomedical Application 309 C. Oehr, D. Hegemann, M. Müller, U. Vohrer, M. Storr 23.1 Introduction 309 23.2 Experimental 310 23.3 Results and Discussion 311 23.3.1 Devices with Geometrically Well-described Trenches Oriented Parallel to the Applied Field 311 23.3.2 Devices with Geometrically Defined Trenches Oriented Nonparallel to the Applied Field 313 23.3.3 Devices with Pores in Micrometer Dimension 314 23.4 Conclusions 317 24 Plasma Sterilisation: Mechanisms Overview and Influence of Discharge Parameters 319 Francois Rossi, Riccardo De Mitri, Sophie Bobin and Rosy Eloy 24.1 Introduction 319 24.2 Experimental 320 24.3 Results 322 24.4 Discussion 329 24.5 Conclusions 330 25 Improvement of Low-pressure Microwave Plasma-assisted Amino Functionalization of Polymers 333 K. Schröder, B. Finke, A. Ohl 25.1 Introduction 333 25.2 Experimental 336 25.2.1 Plasma Processing 336 25.2.2 Surface Diagnostics 337 25.3 Results and Discussion 338 25.3.1 Amino Functionalization in the UHV Plasma System 338 25.3.2 Amino Functionalization in the Low-Vacuum Plasma Reactor 343 25.4 Summary 347 26 PE-CVD Modification of Medical-grade PVC to Inhibit Bacterial Adhesion: PEO-like and Nanocomposite Ag/PEO-like Coatings 351 D.J. Balazs, K. Triandafillu, E. Sardella, G. Iacoviello, P. Favia, R. d’Agostino, H. Harms, and H.J. Mathieu 26.1 Introduction 351 26.2 Materials and Methods 353 26.2.1 Substrate Preparation 353 2.2 Plasma-Deposition Processes 354 26.2.3 Protein Adsorption 355 26.2.4 XPS Analysis 355 26.2.5 Contact-Angle Measurements 356 26.2.6 Bacterial Adhesion 356 26.3 Results and Discussion 357 26.3.1 PEO-like Film Deposition 357 26.3.2 Ag/PEO-like Films 360 26.2.3 Evaluation of Protein Adsorption 365 26.3.4 Evaluation of Bacterial Adhesion 367 26.4 Conclusion 369 27 Plasma-aided Micropatterning of Polystyrene Substrates for Driving Cell Adhesion and Spreading 373 E. Sardella, R. Gristina, G.S. Senesi, R. d’Agostino, P. Favia 27.1 Introduction 373 27.2 Materials and Methods 375 27.2.1 Surface Modifications 375 27.2.2 Surface Diagnostic 375 27.2.3 Cell Culture 376 27.3 Results and Discussion 377 27.3.1 PD-PEO-l Coatings 377 27.3.3 Micropatterning of PEO-like Coatings 381 27.4 Conclusions 385 28 Plasma-deposited Acrylic Acid Coatings on Flat and Nanostructured Substrates for Cell-Culture Experiments 389 L. Detomaso, R. Gristina, G.S. Senesi, L.C. Lopez, P. Favia, R. d’Agostino 28.1 Introduction 389 28.2 Experimental 390 28.2.1 Substrates 390 28.2.2 Plasma Reactors and Processes 391 28.2.3 Surface Characterization 391 28.2.4 Cell-Culture Experiments 392 28.3 Results and Discussion 392 28.4 Conclusions 400 29 The Model for Origin of Life Precursors Based on Exhaust Utilisation in the Electric Discharge 403 Marcela Morvová, Imrich Morva, František Hanic 29.1 Introduction 403 29.2 Experimental 404 29.3 Conclusions 411 Part IV Chemical Synthesis, Powders and Non-Equilibrium Effects 413 30 Gliding-Discharge CF 2 Cl 2 and CHF 2 Cl Decomposition in Reducing Conditions 415 Teresa Opalińska, Anna Opalska, Krzysztof Schmidt-Szałowski 30.1 Introduction 415 30.2 Experimental 417 30.2.1 Experimental Setup 417 30.2.2 Chemical Analysis 418 30.2.3 Conditions of Experiments 418 30.2.4 Definition of the Process Parameters 419 30.3 Results and Discussion 420 30.3.1 Essential Parameters of the Process Characteristics 420 30.3.2 Main Reaction Products – Hydrocarbons and Carbon Black 422 30.3.3 Formation of Fluorine-containing Organic Compounds 424 30.3.4 Energetic Efficiency of the Process 426 30.4 Conclusions 426 31 The Oxidation of Streams for Diesel Fuels Formulations by Means of High-voltage Oxygen Plasmas 431 Pedro Patiño, Eugenio Farrera, and Aurora Mejía 31.1 Introduction 431 31.2 Experimental 432 31.2.1 Equipment 432 31.3 Results 433 31.3.1 Model Compounds 433 31.3.2 Streams and Fuel Oil 437 31.4 Discussion 437 31.5 Conclusions 439 32 Acetylene and Ethylene Carbon Blacks Production in Plasma Process 443 Tomasz Zieliński, Teresa Opalińska, Jacek Kijeński 32.1 Introduction 443 32.2 Experimental 444 32.2.1 Apparatus 444 32.2.2 Procedure 445 32.3 Results and Discussion 446 32.4 Conclusions 453 33 DCM Production in a Dusty-Plasma Trap 455 A. Ivanov, V. Mitin, A. Pal, A. Ryabinkin, A. Serov, E. Skryleva, A Starostin, V. Fortov, Yu. Shulga 33.1 Introduction 455 33.2 The Setup for DCM Production 456 33.3 Results and Discussion 458 33.3.1 Measurement of the Mean Nickel Content 459 33.3.2 Measurement of the Specific Surface 460 33.3.3 X-ray Diffraction Investigations 460 33.3.4 Magnetic Properties of the Processed Powder 461 33.3.5 X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy 462 33.4 Conclusion 463 34 Dust Particles in the dc Glow-Discharge Plasma: Self-organization and Peculiarities of Behavior 465 V.E. Fortov, A.G. Khrapak, V.I. Molotkov, O.F. Petrov, M.Y. Poustylnik, V.M. Torchinsky 34.1 Introduction 465 34.2 Experimental Setup 466 34.3 Plasma Crystals and Liquids 468 34.3.1 Structures of Spherical Grains 468 34.3.2 Plasma Liquid Crystal 469 34.4 Wave Phenomena 470 34.5 Diagnostics of the dc Glow-Discharge Plasma 472 34.5.1 Measurement of the Grain Charge 472 34.5.2 Application of Thermophoresis for Diagnostics of Dust-Particle Confinement 473 34.6 Conclusion 475 35 Controlled Growth of Carbon Nanotubes Using Pulsed Glow-Barrier Discharge 477 Tomohiro Nozaki, Yoshihito Kimura, Ken Okazaki, Shigeru Kado 35.1 Introduction 477 35.2 Experimental 478 35.3 General Aspects of Carbon-Nanotube Deposition with He-based APG 479 35.4 Aligned Nanotube Growth with Pulsed APG 481 35.4.1 Effect of Pulsed Voltage on Alignment 483 35.4.2 Growth Temperature and Pulse Duty 484 35.5 Concluding Remarks and Future Work 485 36 Investigation of Excited Species in a Carbon Ablation Plume in Nitrogen Gas Environment 489 M.A. Bratescu, Y. Sakai, N. Sakura, D. Yamaoka, Y. Suda and H. Sugawara 36.1 Introduction 489 36.2 Experimental Setup 490 36.3 Results and Discussion 492 36.4 Conclusions 497 37 Optimization of a DC-RF Hybrid Plasma Flow System Using Statistical Analysis 499 Kohtaro Kawajiri, Kandasamy Ramachandran and Hideya Nishiyama 37.1 Introduction 499 37.2 Experimental Apparatus and Procedures 500 37.3 Results and Discussion 503 37.3.1 Particle Residence Time 503 37.3.2 Appearance and Disappearance Voltages 505 37.3.3 Upper Limit of Injected Nitrogen Flow Rate 509 37.3.4 Downstream-Gas Temperature 514 37.3.5 Optimization 516 37.4 Conclusion 517