Plasma Surface Modification of Nanoparticles

: Numerical and Experimental Study of the Deposition Mechanisms

Abstract

The work described in this thesis focuses on the low pressure plasma deposition of amine plasma polymer films by cyclopropylamine onto metal oxide nanoparticles including ZnO, ZrO₂ and Al₂O₃ in a magnetically assisted hollow cathode reactor. The main objective is to contribute to the understanding of the plasma deposition mechanisms with the purpose of producing highly functionalized surfaces. In this frame, both numerical and experimental techniques are employed not only to study and understand the plasma, but also the physicochemical properties of the treated nanomaterials. This study is divided in three parts. In the first part, we examine the discharge dynamic of a low pressure argon discharge driven in unipolar and bipolar excitation modes and based on the results we benchmark a numerical Particle in Cell Monte Carlo model. The second part is dedicated to the deposition of amine plasma polymer films by plasma polymerization. In particular, we investigate the impact of the magnetic field strength on the species creation, flux and energy responsible for the film growth. In the third part, we report the development of core-shell nanoparticles by depositing plasma polymer films and we describe in detail the impact of the plasma polymerization on the nanoparticles dispersibility by using the Hansen solubility parameters theory.

Date of Award	17 Jan 2019
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Namur
Sponsors	SPW Service public de Wallonie
Supervisor	Stephane Lucas (Supervisor), Pierre Louette (President), Marie Georges Marjorie Olivier (Jury), Rony Snyders (Jury) & Andreas Pflug (Jury)