Journal
SURFACE & COATINGS TECHNOLOGY
Volume 202, Issue 10, Pages 1911-1917Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA
DOI: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2007.08.034
Keywords
silicon oxide; permeation barrier; PET; PECVD; oxygen permeability
Ask authors/readers for more resources
A microwave driven low pressure plasma reactor is developed based on a modified Plasmaline antenna for plasma processing of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foils and bottles. It allows for the treatment of thermolabile packaging materials, e.g. plasma sterilization and permeation barrier coating. Silicon oxide films are deposited on PET foils as a permeation barrier coating. A pulsed hexamethyldisiloxane: oxygen plasma is ignited under various conditions and the oxygen permeation is investigated. A criterion for the homogeneous deposition of SiQ(x) coatings is described depending on the residence time of process gases. Additionally, the composition of the coatings is analyzed by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy regarding carbon and hydrogen content. A strong relation between barrier properties and film composition is found: good oxygen barriers are observed as carbon content is reduced and films become inorganic, quartz-like. A residual permeation as low as J= 1.0 +/- 0.3 cm(3) m(-2) day(-1) bar(-1) for SiOx coated PET foils is achieved. The dependencies of important plasma parameters, such as gas mixture, process pressure, power and pulse conditions on oxygen permeation through packaging foil are shown to optimize the coating process. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available