The wettability of polyurethane (PU) was altered using ultraviolet ozone (UVO) treatment. The effect of UVO treatment on PU surface chemistry was investigated with various experiments. The direct measurement of sessile drops was employed to quantify the static contact angle of different wetting liquids on homogeneous PU films with various UV ozone treatment times. The contact angle of DI water droplets was decreased to 17.2º from 70.04º after 5min UVO treatment. The surface free energy of PU films was 51.46mN/m prior to treatment and was increased to 71.5mN/m after being fully treated. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XP) analysis shows a signifi‐cant amount of polar functional species (C-O and C=O bonding) were formed on the PU surface by UVO treatment. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) characterization shows the PU surface morphology was different before and after UVO treatment. The effect of water washing on UVO treated surface was also investigated. An aging effect study indicates the UV ozone modification can sustain the improved wettability with limited hydrophobic recovery, where the DI water contact angle remains constant at around 22º after the UVO treatment.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kristen_constant/32/
This is a chapter from Ping Kuang and Kristen Constant (2015). Increased Wettability and Surface Free Energy of Polyurethane by Ultraviolet Ozone Treatment, Wetting and Wettability, Dr. Mahmood Aliofkhazraei (Ed.), InTech, doi:10.5772/60798. Posted with permission.