Cyclonic plasma surface hydrophilization of polysulfone membrane material

Atmospheric-pressure plasma cyclone with argon as the carrier gas was employed to modify the polysulfone membrane to increase its surface hydrophilicity. The variation of the polysulfone surface hydrophilicity was evaluated by static contact angle measurement and it became highly hydrophilic when exposed to cyclonic plasma. The substantial rise in the surface energy of the treated polysulfone membranes as a result of surface etching and bond cleavage effect in the plasma surface modification was also observed. The chemical composition and surface morphological alteration of cyclonic plasma-treated polysulfone membranes were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The major findings in this study showed considerably higher surface concentrations of polar functional groups for cyclonic plasma-activated polysulfone membrane surfaces. This was more than for original pristine polysulfone membrane surfaces. (c) 2019 The Japan Society of Applied Physics