ISSN:
0887-6266
Keywords:
polyethylene
;
ion implantation
;
surface structure
;
wear
;
hardness
;
Physics
;
Polymer and Materials Science
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Physics
Notes:
Polyethylene (PE) film was implanted with 1000-keV Ar+ ions to a fluence of 5 × 1014 ions/cm2 under high vacuum conditions (2.5 × 10-6 torr) and the film surface was investigated by means of microhardness and microwear measurements, and FTIR/ATR, Raman, and XPS techniques. Ion implantation significantly increased the subsurface hardness and also significantly improved the microwear resistance of the polymer. The implanted surface region of the film was found to consist of two distinct layers. One was the outermost carbon layer with a thickness of the order of 10 nm. In this layer, ca. 75% of carbon atoms were combined by graphitic sp2 and diamond-like sp3 bonds, and the remaining 25% had chemical links with oxygen atoms. Spectroscopic data suggested that the sp2-bonded carbons segregated in graphite-like clusters containing imbedded oxygen atoms, interconnected by the sp3-bonded carbons. The other was the subsurface layer resulting from PE oxidation after ion-beam treatment. This layer was characterized by high contents of O—H and C=O groups as well as ester and double bonds. The chemical composition of the layer was uniform and did not vary over the layer thickness of about 1.4 μm. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36: 715-725, 1998
Additional Material:
10 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
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