Large area cleaning and activation of flexible ultra-thin glass by non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2021 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | NANOCON 2020: 12th International Conference on Nanomaterials - Research & Application |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://doi.org/10.37904/nanocon.2020.3717 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.37904/nanocon.2020.3717 |
| Keywords | Atmospheric plasma treatment; ultra-thin flexible glass; wetting; large-area; roll-to-roll |
| Description | Flexible ultra-thin glass is used as a substrate or packaging material in microelectronics engineering, where the level of cleanliness determines the quality of the final product. Surface properties of glass are governed by a surface nano-layer. Besides cleaning from coarse impurities, the demand is also for nano-decontamination, where standard cleaning proves insufficient. In microelectronics and printed flexible electronics, the bonding of thin structures deposited using printed conductive inks on glass substrates is of essential importance. The non-thermal, atmospheric-pressure plasma generated by diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge (DCSBD) was studied as an effective pre-treatment method for cleaning and activation of glass surfaces, implementable into large-scale in-line manufacturing. Two industrial adaptations of DCSBD system were applied on two types of ultra-thin flexible glass to compare the effects of plasma treatment of glass in both relaxed, and bent state. DCSBD "Air-pillow" with a planar discharge unit is designed for contactless treatment of smooth flat large-area surfaces. A roll reactor with a concavely curved DCSBD unit is intended to exemplify its integration into roll-to-roll manufacturing. The effect of plasma treatment and its stability was analyzed with water contact angle measurement and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Significant wettability improvement was achieved with both applied DCSBD geometries, with better effect uniformity and durability after using the DCSBD in the planar configuration. |
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