Preparation of zinc coated PMMA using solid precursor by gliding arc discharge

• Novel gliding arc discharge and solid precursor was used for particle coating.
• A fine layer of zinc was deposited on PMMA particle after 5 min of coating process.
• The coated amount of zinc was measured to be roughly 10 mg/1 g of PMMA particle.
• Zinc coating layer with a thickness in the range of 110 and 195 nm was obtained.
• The coating granted extra electrical conductivity to non-conductive PMMA particles.

A novel gliding arc discharge method using zinc particle as a solid precursor was used to coat poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) particles to provide an adjustable electrical conductivity. An AC voltage of 4.5 kV was applied to the electrodes and 2 L min−1 of argon gas was injected to generate the gliding arc discharge. By using a combination of spouted bed condition and gliding arc discharge, a rapid coating performance was achieved. After 5 min of coating process, PMMA particles were observed to be covered by a fine zinc layer. The amount of coating increased at the beginning of the process and became relatively constant after 20 min. The amount of zinc coating was found to be approximately 10 mg/1 g of PMMA particle at a coating time of 10 min and 0.10 zinc/PMMA mass ratio in the bed. The percentage of zinc surface coverage was calculated to be 60% with a thickness of 140 nm. The coated samples exhibited electrical conductivity, approximately 3.7 × 10−1 S m−1 at zinc/PMMA mass ratio of 0.15 with a thickness of 195 nm and a surface coverage of 75%. The amount of zinc coating showed a proportional relationship with both coating duration and zinc/PMMA mass ratio in the bed. The increase in the amount of zinc coating resulted in an increase of coating thickness, which further resulted in an increasing electrical conductivity of the coated polymer. The proposed method shows a promising potential for particle coating process.

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