Cleaning of Porous Aluminium Titanate by Oxygen Plasma

摘要

The removal of organic contaminants from porous Al2TiO5 during treatment in oxygen plasma was studied by optical emission spectroscopy (OES). The samples of Al2TiO5 were immersed into water emulsion of mineral oil for 3 h to get soaked. Then, they were thoroughly cleaned in ultrasound to remove oil from the surface. Samples were later exposed to RF oxygen plasma at the pressure of 75 Pa. The plasma density was about 2 × 1016 m−3, the electron temperature was about 6 eV and the density of neutral oxygen atoms was about 2 × 1021 m−3. Optical emission spectra between 200 and 1,000 nm were measured continuously during plasma treatment. The CO peak resulting from oil oxidation reached a well-pronounced maximum between 100 and 150 s of plasma treatment. The maximum in CO corresponded well with a minimum in O peaks. Concentration of oil in the samples was estimated by energy dispersion X-ray analysis. Initially the samples showed high concentration of carbon (about 38 at.%), while after plasma treatment the carbon concentration decreased below the detection limit. The cleaning efficiency was explained by diffusion of oil towards the surface where it was removed by oxidation with oxygen radicals.