Described here is the first application of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) to the synthesis of catalitically active materials, prepared by covering Merrifield resin beads with an oxygen-containing fluorocarbon thin film deposited in a hexafluoropropene-O2 plasma. Such modified resins catalyze both the selective epoxidation of trans--methylstyrene and its double oxidative cleavage to benzaldeyde in organic–water biphasic media at room temperature, using potassium monoperoxysulfate (KHSO5) as the terminal oxidant. Interestingly, the epoxide/benzaldehyde product ratio strictly depends on the conditions adopted for catalyst generation. This, coupled with evidence for the presence of carbonyl groups on the surface of treated resins, point to dioxirane- and singlet oxygen (1O2)-mediated oxidations; 1O2 being produced in the decomposition of KHSO5. Compared to traditional synthetic procedures to obtain similar catalytic active materials, the application of PECVD is eco-sustainable and inexpensive. Also, the activity of catalysts can be fully restored upon iterative re-treatment of the exhausted resin

The paper describes a new sensor for breath activity monitoring that, being based on optical fibers, is specifically conceived for applications where the intrinsic safety and the immunity to strong electromagnetic fields are mandatory, such as during MRI. The sensor is based on a plastic optical fiber (POF)in contact with the patient chest and properlymodified to be extremely sensitive to deformations induced by normal breathing activity. The paper presents the sensor development procedure, the fiber modification process based on a cold plasma facility, and experimental results carried outduring rest and sleeping conditions.

Low pressure plasma technologies have been widely and successfully utilized for the production of a large variety of organic–inorganic nanocomposite (NC) thin films consisting of metal or metal oxide nanoparticles embedded in a polymer matrix. Recently, the deposition of this class of coatings has been also accomplished by atmospheric pressure cold plasmas using aerosol-assisted processes in which a dispersion containing preformed inorganic nanoparticles and the liquid precursor of the polymeric component is atomized and injected in aerosol form in the atmospheric plasma. This short review is aimed at presenting this approach which is expected to enlarge the range of structures and properties of organic–inorganic NC coatings deposited by cold plasma technologies.

A facile atmospheric pressure cold plasma process is presented to deposit a novel organic-inorganic hydrocarbon polymer/ZnO nanoparticles nanocomposite coating. Specifically, this method involves the utilization of an atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) fed with helium and the aerosol of a dispersion of oleate-capped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) in n-octane. As assessed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, the deposited nanocomposite coating combines the chemical features of both the oleate-capped ZnO NPs and the polyethylene-like organic component originated from the plasma-polymerization of n-octane. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission scanning electron microscopy (TSEM) confirm the synthesis of hierarchical micro/nanostructured coatings containing quasi-spherical NPs agglomerates. The polyethylene-like polymer covers the NPs agglomerates to different extents and contributes to their immobilization in the three-dimensional network of the coating. The increase of both the deposition time (1 - 10 min) and the NPs concentration in the dispersion (0.5 - 5% w/w) has a significant effect on the chemical and morphological structure of the thin films and, in fact, results in the increase the ZnO NPs content, which ultimately leads to superhydrophobic surfaces (advancing and receding water contact angles higher than 160°) with low hysteresis due to the hierarchical multiscale roughness of the coating.

Low pressure plasma was used for preparing heterogeneous organocatalysts 2-(A)-(C) suitable for dioxirane-mediated epoxidations. Heterogenization was accomplished by adsorption of the methyl perfluoroheptyl ketone (2) on fluorinated supports (A)-(C) deriving from the treatment of commercial C₈-silica gel in low pressure plasma fed with fluorocarbons. Catalyst 2-(C) proved to be the most efficient one, promoting epoxidation of an array of alkenes, including unsaturated fatty esters like methyl oleate (10) and the triglyceride soybean oil (11), with the cheap potassium peroxymonosulfate KHSO₅ (caroate) as a green oxidant. Notably, the perfluorinated matrix gives rise to the activation of caroate, generating singlet oxygen. Materials were characterized by infrared Attenuated Total Reflectance spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS ) and Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM).

This work describes the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of thin films at atmospheric pressure using dielectric barrier discharges fed with argon, oxygen and different methyldisiloxanes, i.e., hexamethyldisiloxane, pentamethyldisiloxane, and 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane. The influence of the methyldisiloxane chemical structure and of the oxygen/methyldisiloxane feed ratio is investigated in order to provide insights into the organosilicon plasma chemistry at atmospheric pressure. As expected the FT-IR and XPS analyses show that the carbon content of the coatings depends on the number of methyl groups in the precursor molecule; in the case of coatings obtained with PMDSO and TMDSO carbon removal seems to be further enhanced by the presence of Si-H bonds. Gaschromatography-mass spectrometry analyses of the exhaust gas allow to assess the precursor depletion and to perform the quali-quantitative determination of by-products (e.g., silanes, siloxanes, silanols) formed by plasma activation. The results are exploited to rise hypotheses on the contribution of the different reaction pathways on the deposition mechanism.

In this paper, we report a two steps low pressure plasma treatment composed by an etching, optimized for the nano-texturing of polycarbonate to improve its anti-reflective property by simulating the so called “Moth eye” effect, and by a plasma enhanced-chemical vapour deposition process to enhance the scratch resistance. Reflectance/transmittance measurements showed that this approach is able to increase the anti-reflective property of the polycarbonate without drastically damaging its transmittance, while scratching test by “car wash” simulator demonstrated the increase of scrape resistance. The haze test confirmed the transparency of the plasma treated polymer also after washing.

Bio-polyols synthesized from vegetables oils are a great alternative to petrochemical polyols for polyurethanes industry. The simplest approach to bio-polyols synthesis involves epoxidation of carbon –carbon double bond of unsaturated fatty ester moieties and subsequent epoxide ring-opening by nucleophilic reagents. In order to improve the latter process by increasing both productivity and product quality, the advantages of flow chemistry were exploited, such as facile automation, reproducibility, improved safety and process reliability, investigating for the first time in the literature the methanolysis reaction of epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) in a continuous flow mode. Compared with batch reaction, flow mode allowed the cut of the reaction time from 30 min to 2 min, and the reduction of catalyst concentration by an order of magnitude, which brought significant benefits in terms of cost efficiency and eco-sustainability, rendering the method suitable for industrial applications

Hydrogenated amorphous carbon coatings, deposited by low pressure plasma to minimize the wear of C100 steel components, were optimized and characterized. In order to ensure good adhesion of the films to the steel surface, a thin Ti interlayer was deposited, by magnetron sputtering, before the plasma deposition. The chemical characterization of the deposits was performed by means of RAMAN, XPS, RBS and ERDA analysis, while nanoindentation, nanoscratch and nanowear tests allowed to estimate the tribomechanical properties of the deposits, with the aim of evaluating their scuff-resistance. It was found that the optimized plasma deposited hydrogenated amorphous carbon coatings were well adherent to C100 steel and increased more than 70 % its surface hardness.

Procedimento per la realizzazione, o il ripristino, per via plasmochimica di un film (film barriera, eventualmente multistrato, che consente di effettuare in modo controllato, uniforme e duraturo il rilascio di sostanze di interesse da un substrato che include come micro/nano particelle la sostanza da rilasciare, oppure da uno strato depositato sul substrato che include come micro/nano particelle la sostanza da rilasciare, oppure da uno strato di sostanza da rilasciare depositata sul substrato, oppure da un substrato che è la sostanza da rilasciare eventualmente in forma di particelle, in cui la sostanza da rilasciare è scelta dal gruppo comprendente metalli e composti con proprietà antibatteriche e molecole biologicamente attive, quali farmaci, ormoni, estratti vegetali, oligopeptidi, lipidi, protidi e glicidi; lo strato con la sostanza da rilasciare (matrice) è ottenuto dal deposito di uno strato, inorganico o organico, eventualmente con struttura simile ai polimeri di polietilenossido (PEO-like); il film barriera è ottenuto dal deposito di almeno uno strato, inorganico o organico, eventualmente con struttura simile ai polimeri di polietilenossido (PEO-like); ed i substrati su cui vengono fatti i depositi sono dispositivi medicochirurgici, manufatti di uso comune, strutture note come scaffold e le sostanze da rilasciare stesse. L’invenzione ha anche per oggetto i dispositivi medicochirurgici, i manufatti di uso comune e gli scaffold rivestiti con substrato e strato barriera, come pure le sostanze biologicamente attive rivestite con almeno uno strato barriera.

Processo per la produzione mediante deposizione plasmochimica di un film di spessore nanometrico, eventualmente multistrato, che consente di eseguire in modo controllato, uniforme e duraturo, il rilascio di sostanze di interesse in un terreno circostante contenente liquidi, da un substrato che include la sostanza a essere rilasciati come particelle micro / nano o da uno strato depositato sul substrato, compresa la sostanza da rilasciare sotto forma di particelle micro / nano, o da uno strato della sostanza da rilasciare depositato sul substrato o da un substrato che è il sostanza da rilasciare facoltativamente sotto forma di particelle. Le sostanze da rilasciare possono essere metalli, composti aventi proprietà anti-batteriche, molecole biologicamente attive come farmaci, ormoni, estratti vegetali, peptidi, lipidi, protidi e glucidi. Lo strato con la sostanza da rilasciare, sia essa organica o inorganica, è ottenuto mediante deposizione plasmochimica facoltativamente avente una struttura simile al polietilenossido (PEO) o polietilenglicole (PEG), detti polimeri PEO-simili, costituiti, in una percentuale variabile da unità di ossido di etilene (-CH2CH2O-, EO); il film barriera è ottenuto depositando per plasma almeno uno strato organico o inorganico, opzionalmente con una struttura simile a PEO, in cui composizione chimica, grado di reticolazione e spessore sono regolabili dai parametri del processo di deposizione chimica plasmo e consentono di regolare il rilascio di la sostanza attiva in base alle esigenze specifiche. Le strutture su cui possono essere depositati i suddetti film sono: dispositivi medico-chirurgici, lavori manuali comuni, strutture note come scaffold e le sostanze sopra definite da rilasciare loro stesse. L'invenzione riguarda anche dispositivi medico-chirurgici, lavori manuali e scaffold rivestiti da un substrato e strato barriera, nonché a sostanze biologicamente attive rivestite da almeno uno strato barriera.

One embodiment of the invention provides a method of manufacturing a filter material such as carbon suitable for use in a smoking article. The method includes modifying the filtration properties of the filter by altering the surface of the filter material. The surface alteration is performed by plasma processing and can be used, for example, to increase the acidic or basic properties of the surface. Another embodiment of the invention provides a filter produced by such a method.

Process for the production by plasmochemical deposition of a film having a nanometric thickness, optionally multilayered, permitting carrying out in a controlled, uniform and long lasting way, release of substances of interest in a surrounding medium containing liquids, from a substrate including the substance to be released as micro/nano particles, or from a layer deposited on the substrate including the substance to be released as micro/nano particles, or from a layer of the substance to be released deposited on the substrate, or from a substrate that is the substance to be released optionally in the form of particles. The substances to be released can be metals, compounds having anti-bacterial properties, biologically active molecules such as drugs, hormones, vegetable extracts, peptides, lipids, protides and glucides. The layer with the substance to be released, be it organic or inorganic, is obtained by plasmochemical deposition optionally having a structure similar to polyethylene oxide (PEO) or polyethylene glycol (PEG), called PEO-like polymers, constituted, in a variable percentage da ethylene oxide units (-CH2CH2O-, EO); barrier film is obtained by depositing by plasma at least one organic or inorganic layer, optionally with a PEO-like structure, wherein chemical composition, degree of crosslinking and thickness are adjustable by the plasmo chemical deposition process parameters, and allow to adjust the release of the active substance according to specific needs. The structures on which the above said films can be deposited are: medical-surgical devices, common handworks, structures known as scaffolds, and the above defined substances to be released themselves. The invention also relates to medical-surgical devices, common handworks and scaffolds coated by a substrate and barrier layer, as well as to biologically active substances coated by at least one barrier layer.

The present invention deals with a process for the realization of labels endowed with an invisible identification drawing to use as an effective method for preventing counterfeiting. This is based on treatments able to give different surface properties to different domains of polymeric materials, paper materials and materials of other kind (e.g. hydrophilic areas alternating with other hydrophobic areas, areas with charge alternating with neutral areas, acid areas alternating with basic areas, etc) according to pre-set drawings, by means of an appropriate system of masks. The drawing obtained with our method will be totally invisible to the naked eye, but a commercial highlighter runned over the labels will allow to highlight a secret drawing applied to the batch identified by the said labels.