High‐energy ion implantation of polymers: Poly(vinylidene fluoride)

Abstract

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) films were implanted with high‐energy (up to 6 MeV) He, C, O, and Ni ions and characterized using DSC, FTIR, and solubility measurements. None of the ions were energetic enough to penetrate the polymer film completely. The effects of ion energy, fluence, and ion type were studied individually. The implantation process lowered the crystallinity, induced crosslinking, and produced carbonyl groups on the polymer. The ion energy (in the range 0.4–4.5 MeV for He ions) had the most drastic effect, the radiation damage was found to increase with decreasing energy. The sample implanted with 0.4 MeV He ions lost 81% of its initial crystallinity and was only 24% soluble, even though the incident ions have a range of only 2.7 μm in this case. The other samples retained most of their initial crystallinity but still were substantially cross‐linked. The results can be qualitatively explained by assuming that hydrogen free radicals, produced during implantation, can diffuse throughout the sample and react, resulting in crystallinity and solubility losses beyond the ion deceleration region.

XRD and SEM Investigation of Swift Heavy Ion-Irradiated Polyvinylidene Fluoride Thin Films

“…The XRD data, i.e., angular positions (2h), peak intensity (I), and lattice spacing (d) corresponding to a-, b-, c-phases for pristine and ion-irradiated films of thickness 9 lm are given in Table 1 and for 20 lm films in Table 2. The pristine data are in conformity with those of other authors ( Ref 11,12,14,18,19).…”

“…These studies reveal the enhancement in electrical conductivity and change in crystallinity of PVDF ( Ref 11). The decrease in crystallinity has been reported under low-energy ion implantation ( Ref 11,14) whereas an increase in crystallinity has been reported under electron and c-ray irradiations ( Ref 12,15,16). The crystallinity plays a crucial role in piezoelectric, mechanical, optical, electrical, and even thermal properties of polymers ( Ref 11).…”

Dielectric Properties of γ‐Iirradiated, Stretched, and Poled PVDF Thin Films

“…[9][10][11][12][13][14] High energy ion implantation in PVDF films resulted in cross-linking, loss of crystallinity, and formation of carbonyl groups in the polymer. [15] However, an increase in crystallinity in PVDF polymer by electron beam irradiation has been observed. [16] It was observed that the electromechanical property of irradiated PVDF and its copolymers depends mainly on the processing conditions both prior and during the irradiation.…”

“…The response of PVDF under bombardment of various kinds of radiations has been studied before . High energy ion implantation in PVDF films resulted in cross‐linking, loss of crystallinity, and formation of carbonyl groups in the polymer . However, an increase in crystallinity in PVDF polymer by electron beam irradiation has been observed …”

Morphological analysis of highly filled propylene/ethylene copolymers

“…The method has been mainly used with metallic and semiconducting materials. Its use in polymer sample preparation is delicate because it can induce amorphization of the sample surface, 9,10 scission and/or crosslinking of polymer chains, 11,12 shrinkage of the chains, 13 and modification of the surface chemistry. [14][15][16] Despite these difficulties, recent publications recommend this method as a useful tool in the preparation of polymer samples.…”