Plasma ion processing of substrates
AssigneeLifehouse Australia AS Trustee for the Lifehouse Australia Trust
InventorsDavid R. McKenzie, Marcela Bilek, Aleksey Kondyurin, Elena Kosobrodova
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Abstract
A method for plasma ion processing is described, including flowing a gas into porous material; and exposing the gas to a pulsed electric field whilst the gas is in the pores. The pulsed electric field ionises the gas to generate a plasma. The method may additionally include exposing the porous material to a gas so as to generate functionality. The method may additionally include exposing the functionalised porous material to a functional species so as to covalently attach said functional species to the surfaces of the pores.
Claims16
A method for plasma modification of a porous material, comprising:
- a) flowing a gas into pores of said porous material;
- and
- b) exposing the gas to a pulsed electric field in said pores;
- wherein
- the porous material is a three-dimensional structure and has a plurality of internal cavities;
- and
- the pulsed electric field is provided by a powered first electrode with sufficient strength to ionise the gas to generate a plasma, wherein
- the powered first electrode at least partially surrounds the porous material;
- and
- the ionization of the gas occurs inside the plurality of internal cavities of the porous material;
- the porous material is held within a support and the support is in the form of a sleeve or tube that constrains the flow of the gas;
- and
- the powered first electrode is the sleeve or tube or at least partially surrounds the sleeve or tube.
A method of plasma modification of a porous material that is a three-dimensional structure, the method comprising:
- locating the porous material in an electric field so as to impart to the internal and external surfaces of the porous material an electric potential, including:
- placing at least a powered first electrode around the porous material so that there is a straight line between two points on the powered first electrode which passes through some point in the porous material;
- generating, from a gas provided within the porous material, a plasma at the porous material, wherein the plasma is an electrically conductive medium between the electrodes;
- and
- providing the gas at pressure that results in ions of the plasma implanting in the porous material under the force of the electric field;
- wherein the porous material is held within a support and the support is in the form of a sleeve or tube that constrains the gas at pressure and wherein the powered first electrode is the sleeve or tube or at least partially surrounds the sleeve or tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.