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AssigneeThe Research Foundation of State University of NY
InventorsJoseph A. Gardella, Jr., Terrance G. Vargo
Estimating the term…
Through radio frequency glow discharge the molecular structure of a fluoropolymer is permanently modified by the substitution of hydrogen and oxygen or oxygen-containing radicals for fluorine to a depth of up to 100 .ANG.. The surface morphological properties on a molecular level (e.g., pore structure) of the modified fluoropolymer remain substantially uncharged from those of the starting polymer as well as the bulk structure below the modified surface region while wettability with respect to low surface tension liquids and surface free energy as determined through critical surface tension are increased and new chemically reactive sites are created for further wet chemical modification or attachment of various functionality for development of a bioprobe device.
An oxyfluoropolymer comprising a fluoropolymer in which up to about 98 percent of the surface fluorine atoms to depths from about 10 to about 100 .ANG. are permanently substituted with hydrogen and oxygen or oxygen-containing groups of which from about 3 to about 30 percent of the substituted fluorine is replaced with oxygen or oxygen-containing groups and from about 70 to about 97 percent is substituted with hydrogen atoms, the morphological and hydrophobic properties of the oxyfluoropolymer remaining substantially unchanged from those of said fluoropolymer while wettability with respect to low surface tension liquids and surface free energy (.gamma..sub.s) as determined through critical surface tension (.gamma..sub.c) are increased.
An oxyfluoropolymer, which comprises a fluoropolymer having a carbon backbone with atoms bonded thereto selected from the group consisting of fluorine and both fluorine and hydrogen provided that when hydrogen atoms are present fluorine shall be present in a ratio of at least 1:3, said fluoropolymer having a sufficient number of fluorine atoms substituted with both hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms or oxygen-containing radicals covalently bonded to said carbon backbone to a surface depth from about 10 to about 100 .ANG. to increase the wettability with respect to low surface tension liquids and surface free energy (.gamma..sub.s) as determined through critical surface tension (.gamma..sub.c) while the hydrophobic properties of said oxyfluoropolymer remain substantially unchanged from those of the fluoropolymer.
A method of making a permanently modified fluoropolymer having increased surface energy, which comprises the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.