Container with low particulate emission and friction controlled dry sliding surface and methods for producing same

Abstract

A container is provided that includes a container body with an outer surface and an inner surface. The inner surface contains silicon oxide and the silicon oxide containing inner surface is at least partially modified with a fluorine containing compound. The fluorine containing compound is chemically bonded to the silicon oxide of the container body via at least one Si—O—Si bond.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for producing a container of low particulate emission, comprising the steps of:
 providing a container body having an outer surface and an inner surface, the inner surface comprising silicon oxide;   applying a mixture of an organic fluorine compound dissolved in a solvent to at least a portion of the inner surface; and   drying the fluorine containing compound and crosslinking the fluorine containing compound with the silicon oxide at the inner surface by a condensation reaction.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fluorine containing compounds crosslink with each other. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the organic fluorine compound has a concentration in a range from 0.01% to 1%. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the organic fluorine compound has a concentration in a range from 0.05% to 0.3%. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the solvent comprises a fluorine containing solvent comprising at least one compound selected from a group consisting of Ethoxynonafluorobutane; Methoxynonafluorobutane; Perfluorohexane; Hydrofluoroether; Solvay Solexis HAS-110; Fluorinert FC-77; Perfluorosolv PFS-1; and Perfluorosolv PFS-2. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinking comprises directly exposing the fluorine containing compound to a wet gas atmosphere. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinking comprises exposing the fluorine containing compound to an acid solution. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinking comprises crosslinking at a temperature above 30° C. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinking comprises crosslinking at a relative humidity in a range from 10% to 95%. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinking comprises crosslinking at a relative humidity in a range from 30% to 70%. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinking comprises crosslinking in air under the effect of atmospheric humidity from the environment. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the step of applying the mixture comprises liquid coating using an ultrasonic atomizer or a diving nozzle. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising pretreating, at least partially, the inner surface, wherein the pretreating comprises at least one step selected from the group consisting of: thermally pretreating at a temperature above 350° C.; thermally pretreating at a temperature above 400° C.; thermally pretreating at a temperature above 500° C.; washing with a sterile, low particulate water; wet-chemical pretreating using an acidic solution; wet-chemical pretreating using an alkaline solution; cleaning using ultrasound at a frequency in a range from 20 kHz to 2.5 MHz; cleaning using ultrasound at a frequency in a range from 100 kHz to 2 MHz; drying; drying by blowing in air; and drying in a continuous furnace. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, before applying the mixture, the step of applying an intermediate layer on at least a partial area of the inner surface, wherein the intermediate layer comprises at least one feature or property selected from the group consisting of: adhesion promotion; silicon oxide; a sol-gel-based layer; at least one under-stoichiometric compound; at least one over-stoichiometric oxide compound; doped with further compounds; mixed oxide; a doped silicon oxide; a silicon oxide doped with an oxide of elements Al, Mg, P, Ce, Zr, Ti, Ba, Sr, Nb, B, or with magnesium fluoride. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, after crosslinking, subjecting the inner surface to a posttreatment, at least partially, wherein the posttreatment comprises at least one step selected from the group consisting of: drying under ambient conditions; drying in a furnace; post-cleaning in an ultrasonic bath; post-cleaning using a solvent; post-cleaning using a fluorine containing solvent; post-cleaning using the solvent in the mixture; post-cleaning using water; and post-cleaning using water for injection. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of applying the mixture comprises liquid coating using a process selected from the group consisting of: spray coating; dip coating; strike-off coating; wipe-on coating; flood coating; and flow coating. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of applying the mixture comprises:
 applying the mixture to only a partial surface area of the inner surface such that at least one unmodified partial surface remains.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising bonding a different material to the at least one unmodified partial surface. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising applying an adhesive material to the at least one unmodified partial surface. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the step of providing the container body comprises:
 providing a plastic body made of cyclic olefin polymer (COP) or cyclic olefin copolymer (COC); and   coating the inner surface with a silicon oxide containing intermediate layer.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising applying an adhesion promoting layer directly coupled to the plastic body before the step of coating the inner surface with the intermediate layer. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fluorine containing compound is an alkoxysilane compound, the alkoxysilane compound having a structure as follows: 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein ORe represents an alkoxy group, 
         wherein the backbone comprises a fluorine containing entity, and 
         wherein the linker includes a functional group selected from the group consisting of at least one of a hydrolyzable group, an amino group, at least one further silane group, an acrylate, and a methacrylate group. 
       
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the linker forms bonds between molecules of the alkoxysilane compound. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the linker forms crosslinks between linkers of two or more neighboring fluorine containing compounds in a condensation reaction. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the fluorine containing compound is chemically bonded to the silicon oxide via at least one Si—O—Si bond. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fluorine containing compound is chemically bonded to the silicon oxide via at least one Si—O—Si bond. 
     
     
         27 . A method for producing a container with low particulate emission, comprising the steps of:
 providing a container body having an outer surface and an inner surface, wherein the inner surface contains silicon oxide;   applying a mixture of an organic fluorine compound dissolved in a solvent to at least a portion of the inner surface of the container body, wherein the fluorine containing compound is an alkoxysilane compound, wherein said alkoxysilane compound has a structure as follows:   
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein the linker comprises at least one hydrolyzable group, and/or an amino group, and/or a carboxamide group —OC—NH—, and/or at least one further silane group, and/or an acrylate or methacrylate group, and 
         wherein ORe represents an alkoxy group, and wherein the backbone comprises a fluorine containing entity; 
         drying the fluorine containing compound and crosslinking the fluorine containing compound with the silicon oxide at the inner surface of the container body by a condensation reaction; and 
         crosslinking the fluorine containing compounds with each other via the linker. 
       
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein a fluorine containing solvent is selected from a group consisting of Ethoxynonafluorobutane, Methoxynonafluorobutane, Perfluorohexane, Hydrofluoroether, and combinations thereof.