Poly(propylene)/carbon composite thin films obtained by pulsed electron‐beam deposition

Abstract

For the first time pulsed electron beam deposition (PED) was used to deposit thin films composed of polymer‐carbon composite material. The targets were polypropylene‐carbon (PP/C) composites, with different carbon fillers: carbon black, nanotubes, or graphene. It was confirmed that coatings with composite structure were obtained – the PED method enables complex structures, including nanotubes, to be ablated whole from the target, transported toward substrate, and incorporated into the polymer matrix. These breakthrough results can contribute significantly to improved understanding of the mechanism of electron beam ablation of polymer and composite materials, and open up new possibilities for the deposition of complex composite thin films for use in, for example, advanced sensor applications.

XPS and FTIR Studies of Polytetrafluoroethylene Thin Films Obtained by Physical Methods

“…Given the above, and our own experience with PLD and PED techniques [16,20,26], the aim of this work was to verify the hypothesis regarding the deposition of stoichiometric PTFE –( C F 2 – C F 2 ) n – thin films by both PLD and PED techniques, performing detailed chemical structure analysis by infrared spectroscopy in combination with a complementary surface sensitive technique—X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Additionally, in view of the “still open discussion” on the mechanism of ablation processes, the films were examined as-deposited (without post-process annealing) in order to determine the effect of PLD and PED on the material.…”

Chemical Structure of EVA Films Obtained by Pulsed Electron Beam and Pulse Laser Ablation

“…This is because electrons can interact via Coulomb interactions with any material, both inorganic and organic, transferring energy into the target surface more effectively than photons (as in PLD) [9]. The first results in polymer thin films development using the PED technique indicated a greater potential of this method (vs PLD), leading to the conclusion that the films obtained can have almost the same stoichiometry of the polymer structure as the target [6,7,8,10].…”

Scalable superhydrophobic coatings with recycled polypropylene

“…Reported methods include perfluoro silane grafting, 3 nanoparticles coating, 4 polymer solution coating, 5 moulding from textured template, 6 and deposition of precursors using pulsed laser techniques. 7 Developing practical and scalable methods for fabricating superhydrophobic surfaces is significant and remains a focal point of current research. Enhancing the durability of superhydrophobic coatings is another critical focus in this domain due to the susceptibility of these coatings to lose their superhydrophobic properties when their surface hierarchical structures are compromised.…”

“…Polymers have been extensively investigated as primary materials for the development of superhydrophobic coatings. 3–7 Some polymer surfaces are designed to replicate the hierarchical micro/nanostructures found in natural superhydrophobic surfaces, such as lotus leaves and cicada wings. 1 c , d ,2,9 One notable example involves the synthesis of microspheres with nano-scaled rough surfaces using a block copolymer of polypropylene and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PP-PMMA).…”