Abstract
We have studied the increase of wettability of polymer surface treated by plasma generated in a low pressure discharge.Many polar groups were introduced by the treatment. A treated surface was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determine elements and chemical bonds. However it is difficult to measure simultaneously the surface state during treatment in chamber. In situ measurement technique to detect polar groups on surface of plasma-treated polymer has been required.We have studied photoluminescence (PL) which is a light emission from materials excited with light. An intense fluorescence is observed from polymers including aromatic compound, e.g., Polystyrene (PS) and Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) irradiated by ultra violet ray. When polar groups are introduced by the surface treatment, the spectrum shape and the intensity of PL should be changed. If the change is sensitive to introduction of polar groups, a PL method may be useful to detect polar groups of plasma-treated layer on polymer surface. Here we observed the PL spectrum of treated PS surface. As the result, it is confirmed that the intensity of new spectrum detected depends on treatment time.
