Surface adhesion enhancement of hydrophobic polymers via atmospheric plasma technology

Water ingression into outboard cables and other kinds of naval hardware and platforms is and always will be a threat to long term reliability. Some of the best polymers for use as protective coatings against water ingression share a common problem: poor adhesion to other materials. Poor adhesion properties of some of these polymers can be improved through the use of harsh and dangerous chemical treatments. Unfortunately, some of the most water resistant polymers, such as polyolefins and fluorinated polyolefins, are largely resistant to any commonly available adhesion enhancement chemical treatments. Plasma treatment has been shown to improve the bondability of these normally adhesively problematic materials, but traditional plasma techniques have proven to be impractical due to the extremely low vacuum pressures required for operation. The atmospheric operation development makes it possible to use plasma technology in almost any setting, allowing users to not only make use of highly water resistant materials during fabrication of naval cables and hardware, but just as importantly, be able to repair these damaged items in the field. This combination can lead to huge cost savings by creating cables that either rarely fail due to water induction, or that can be repaired instead of replaced. Currently this technology has been mostly used for manufacturing commercial products, therefore there is very little guidance or research to reference when it comes to using this technology to improve the durability and lifetime of various naval hardware applications. The research being presented is an initial look on how plasma technology can improve the bondability of materials that do not respond to normal bonding methods as well as a quantification of the optimal treatment variables for specific materials.