Coating of a Polymer Layer Using Low Powder Pulsed Plasma in a Plasma Chamber of a Large Volume

• US 20080260965A1
• Filed: 03/18/2005
• Published: 10/23/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: P2I Limited
• Original Assignee: P2I Limited
• Inventors: Coulson, Stephen Richard, Burnett, Ian, Sambell, John Henry
• Granted Patent: US 8,389,070 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 427/569
• CPC Class Codes: B05D 1/62 Plasma-deposition of organic layers plasma deposition in general C23C14/00, C23C16/00
• CPC Class Codes: B05D 2506/00 Halogenated polymers
• CPC Class Codes: B05D 2506/10 Fluorinated polymers
• CPC Class Codes: B05D 5/083 involving the use of fluoropolymers
• CPC Class Codes: H05H 1/4697 using glow discharges

Abstract

A method for depositing a polymeric material onto a substrate, said method comprising introducing an organic monomeric material in a gaseous state into a plasma deposition chamber, igniting a glow discharge within said chamber, and applying a high frequency voltage as a pulsed field, at a power of from 0.001 to 500 w/m³ for a sufficient period of time to allow a polymeric layer to form on the surface of the substrate. The method is particularly suitable for producing oil and water repellent coatings, in particular where the monomeric material contains haloalkyl compounds. Apparatus particularly adapted to carry out the method of the invention is also described and claimed.

Claims

1. A method for depositing a polymeric material onto a substrate, the method comprising introducing a monomeric material in a gaseous state into a plasma deposition chamber in which a plasma zone has a volume of at least 0.5 m³, igniting a glow discharge within said chamber, and applying a voltage as a pulsed field, at a power of from 0.001 to 500 w/m³ for a sufficient period of time to allow a polymeric layer to form on the surface of the substrate.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the plasma zone within the chamber has a volume of about 1 m³ or more.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the plasma zone has a volume of between 1 m³ and 10 m³.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the power is applied at from 0.001 to 100 w/m³.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the power is applied at from 0.04 to 100 w/m³.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the monomeric material is an unsaturated organic compound comprising a chain of carbon atoms, which are optionally substituted by halogen.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the monomeric material is a compound of formula (I):

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the compound of formula (I) is an acrylate of formula (III)

CH₂═

CR⁷C(O)O(CH₂)_nR⁵ 

 

(III)

where n and R⁵ as defined above in claim 7 and R⁷ is hydrogen or C_1-6 alkyl.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the acrylate of formula (III) is 1H,1H,2H,3H-heptadecafluorodecylacylate.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the monomeric compound in a gaseous state is supplied to the chamber in combination with a carrier gas.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the carrier gas is helium.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein gaseous material is supplied to the chamber at a rate of at least 1 standard cubic centimetre per minute (sccm).

13. The method of claim 1 wherein vapours of compounds of formula (I) in the chamber are maintained at pressures of from 0.01 to 300 mbar.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the power is pulsed in a sequence in which the power is on for 20 μ

s and off for from 1000 μ

s to 20000 μ

s.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein gas is supplied to the chamber along a temperature gradient.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the chamber is heated during the deposition process.

17. An apparatus for depositing a polymeric material onto a substrate, the apparatus comprises a plasma deposition chamber, at least two electrodes arranged so as to ignite a plasma within the chamber, a pump system arranged to feed monomer gas into the chamber, and power control means programmed to pulse power supplied to the electrodes so as to produce a plasma at a power of from 0.001 to 500 w/m³ within a plasma zone within the chamber, the plasma zone having a volume of at least 0.5 m³.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the apparatus further comprises heating means for the chamber.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, which further comprises a container for monomer, which is connected to the chamber.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein heating means is arranged to create an increasing temperature gradient between the container and the chamber.