Increasing the surface energy of materials with a one atmosphere uniform glow discharge plasma

Summary form only given. A surface suitable for printing with water-based inks has been obtained using a one-atmosphere uniform glow discharge plasma (OAUGDP). Surface energies above 70 dynes per centimeter were obtained immediately after exposure. These values remained above 50 for the plastic substrate, and decayed to pre-exposure values for the metal. The surfaces were exposed to an ambient air plasma at atmospheric pressure. The samples were left in a normal laboratory environment after exposure, without special precautions for isolation or protection. Plastic (polyethylene Terephthalate-PET, obtained from the Textiles and Nonwovens Development Center-TANDEC) and metal (shiny side of Reynolds Wrap domestic heavy duty aluminum foil 109243) were exposed to a plasma with a RF electrode voltage of 11.6 kV rms at 5,000 Hertz across 14 centimeter diameter electrodes. A 2 millimeter thickness of Pyrex covers each of two electrodes, which are parallel plates with a 3 mm air gap. Exposure times of 0, 3.5, 10, 30,60 seconds were used for the plastic, and 0, 15, 30, 60, 90 and 120 seconds for the metal.