Improved adhesion of Ag NPs to the polyethylene terephthalate surface via atmospheric plasma treatment and surface functionalization

Ag nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely applied, as important antibacterial materials, on textile and polymer surfaces. However, their adhesion to nonreactive polymer surfaces is generally too weak for many applications. Here, we propose a two-step process, atmospheric plasma treatment followed by a surface chemical modification process, which enhances their adhesion to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) surfaces. We found that, compared to either plasma treatments or surface chemical functionalizations, alone, this combination greatly enhanced their adhesion. The plasma treatment resulted in an increase of active sites (-OH, -CH=O and COOH) at the PET surface, permitting increased bonding to 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES), whose -NH2 groups were then able to form a bonding complex with the Ag NPs. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.