The role played by oxygen plasma on Teflon: relevance to the concept of “cryptoelectrons”

Abstract

Dr Williams (AIP Adv., 2012, 2, 010701) suggested that cleaning Teflon by high pressure oxygen plasma may have affected our result that Cu²⁺ and Pd²⁺ ions can be absorbed but not chemically reduced by a Teflon surface rubbed by PMMA (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012, 14, 5551). In response, we show that this treatment does not affect the adsorption of Cu²⁺ and Pd²⁺. We reaffirm our statement that Cu²⁺ and Pd²⁺ ions can be adsorbed by a Teflon surface only after rubbing with the organic polymers, not before rubbing.