Improvement of Interfacial Performances on Insulating and Semi-conducting Silicone Polymer Joint by Plasma-treatment

In this paper, we investigated the effects of short-term oxygen plasma treatment of semiconducting silicone layer to improve interfacial performances in joints prepared with a insulating silicone materials. Surface characterizations were assessed using contact angle measurement and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and then adhesion level and electrical performance were evaluated through T-peel tests and electrical breakdown voltage tests of treated semi-conductive and insulating joints. Plasma exposure mainly increased the polar component of surface energy from $0.21\;dyne/cm^2$ to $47\;dyne/cm^2$ with increasing plasma treatment time and then leveled off. Based on XPS analysis, the surface modification can be mainly ascribed to the creation of chemically active functional groups such as C-O, C=O and COH on semi-conductive silicone surface. This oxidized rubber layer is inorganic silica-like structure of Si bound with three to four oxygen atoms ($SiO_x,\;x=3{\sim}4$). The oxygen plasma treatment produces an increase in joint strength that is maximum for 10 min treatment. However, due to brittle property of this oxidized layer, the highly oxidized layer from too much extended treatment could be act as a weak point, decreasing the adhesion strength. In addition, electrical breakdown level of joints with adequate plasma treatment was increased by about $10\;\%$ with model samples of joints prepared with a semi-conducting/ insulating silicone polymer after applied to interface.