Title :
Surface Degradation of Silicone Rubber Exposed to Corona Discharge
Author :
Zhu, Yong ; Haji, Kenichi ; Otsubo, Masahisa ; Honda, Chikahisa
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Miyazaki Univ.
Abstract :
This paper describes the surface degradation of unfilled high-temperature vulcanized silicone rubber (HTV-SR) resulting from creeping corona discharges under atmospheric pressure. In this paper, HTV-SR specimens were exposed to corona stress generated by a parallel needle-plate electrode system; furthermore, physicochemical analyses were conducted on the surface layer of SR before and after corona discharge treatment. The results showed that the plasma impingement from the corona discharge can cause physical and chemical damages to the SR surface. In addition, it was demonstrated that instead of hydrophobic CH 3 groups, hydrophilic OH groups that are by-products of aging may be formed on the surface of aged SR; furthermore, the corona discharge plays an important role in the loss of hydrophobicity
Keywords :
corona; plasma chemistry; plasma materials processing; reaction kinetics theory; silicone rubber; surface chemistry; surface treatment; aging by-products; atmospheric pressure; corona discharge; high-temperature vulcanized silicone rubber; hydrophilic OH groups; hydrophobic CH3 groups; parallel needle-plate electrode; physicochemical analyses; plasma impingement; surface degradation; Aging; Atmospheric-pressure plasmas; Corona; Degradation; Electrodes; Rubber; Stress; Strontium; Surface discharges; Surface treatment; Corona discharge; hydrophobicity; plasma impingement; silicone rubber (SR);
Journal_Title :
Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TPS.2006.876498
