Polymerization of Maleic Anhydride Induced by Non-equilibrium Atmospheric Pressure Argon Plasma

The non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure Ar plasma was applied to the polymerization of maleic anhydride (MA). The deposited films were analyzed by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) proving the monomer was successfully polymerized with retaining the functional groups. The intensity of optical emission spectroscopy (OES) of the plasma jet was found to become weaker when the monomer was introduced into the jet. This was interpreted as the result of the energy transfer from the metastable Ar to the monomer. It was suggested that the excited MA changed into pi-pi* transition state to produce dimer biradicals which initiated the polymerization.