Abstract
Polymer powders, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and polyamide (nylon 6, PA), were treated by four kinds of non-polymer-forming plasmas, Ar, O2, CF4, and CCl4. The greatest weight loss was observed in O2-plasma treatment due to its effective etching. In CF4 plasma at the flow rate of 10 cm3(STP)/min, the molecular weights of PMMA and PA were reduced effectively. From the analysis by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, a new peak that may be assigned to acid fluoride was found, which was resulted from the decomposition of ester and amide groups in PMMA and PA, respectively. In CCl4 plasma, polymerization took place preferentially.
