Polymerization of methyl methacrylate initiated by atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Abstract

Utilization of atmospheric pressure plasma jet (AP plasma jet) was investigated for polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) through the radical generation method. The AP plasma jet has a character of high-energy field at a relatively low temperature. Furthermore, this procedure can supply various types of energies to extremely restricted region of target materials irrespective of the shape and topography of the surfaces. In a liquid phase polymerization, the formation of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) was recovered by adding the reaction solution to an poor solvent, methanol. The amount of recovered PMMA was linearly increased with the AP plasma jet irradiation time and the formation rate of PMMA of 1.1 mg min-1 was obtained. From an infrared spectrophotometric analysis, no significant change was observed between the PMMA sample formed by AP plasma jet irradiation and a reference PMMA film. It is considered that the AP plasma jet contributes to trigger for radical polymerization without imparting any considerable damage on the polymer. In addition, the polymerization of MMA was also investigated in the vapor phase. A small amount of PMMA was generated on the target glass plate surface by the irradiation of AP plasma jet through the vapor phase containing MMA. This result suggests a possibility for construction of a new formation system of a polymer film.