Effect of low- temperature plasma treatment on the structural and performance properties of PTFE micro- porous membranes

Due to its low surface energy, polytetrafluoroethylene ( PTFE) shows poor cohesiveness and wettability.It is of great importance to improve its hydrophilicity for the preparation of PTFE- based composite membranes. This study modified the surface of PTFE membrane using lower- temperature plasma.The effect of process parameters such as radiation distance, discharge power, treatment time and air flowrate on the structural properties the membranes were investigated. The membranes were extensively characterized using attenuated total reflection flourier transformed infrared spectroscopy ( ATR- FTIR) , X- ray photoelectron spectroscopy ( XPS) , scanning electron microscopy ( SEM) and tensile.The results indicated that the process parameters of the low- temperature plasma treatment including radiation distance, discharge power, treatment time and air flowrate had significant effect on the structural properties of the membrane. The modified PTFE micro- porous membrane enhanced hydrophilicity and mechanical properties which could lead to its further wide applications on membrane separation.