Influence of plasma treatment on wettability and scratch resistance of Ag-coated polymer substrates

Abstract Rapid progress in thin-film coatings based on metals, which can be deposited on polymers, has been recently observed. In this work discussion on the properties of modified polymers and silver thin films deposited on polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polycarbonate (PC) substrates has been presented. Surface of these polymer substrates were exposed to argon plasma discharge. Additionally, silver thin films were deposited on their surface by electron beam evaporation method. The surfaces of the modified polymers were studied by different methods, i.e. topography, wettability and scratch resistance measurements were performed. The ageing effect of treated substrates was also discussed. It was shown that plasma modification of PTFE and PC substrates increased wettability of their surfaces. The value of water contact angle decreased of about 40 % and 25 % for PTFE and PC surface, respectively. The change of hydrophobic to hydrophilic properties was observed. Plasma modification of substrates improved adhesion between silver coating and polymer substrates. However, it did not influence wettability of Ag coating.