Engineering and modification of physical properties of thermoplastic polymeric films using oxygen ions bombardment for industrial applications

The aim of this work was to investigate the physical properties of thermoplastic polycarbonate films and their potential applications in industrial technology after bombardment at fluences 0.11 × 10 19 , 0.22 × 10 19 , 0.33 × 10 19 , and 0.44 × 10 19 ions/cm 2 of oxygen ions. To evaluate the impact of ion bombardment on these samples, FTIR, UV/Vis spectroscopy, surface roughness tester, and contact angle goniometer were used. It was observed that the band positions in the collected spectra of the samples remain unchanged when subjected to oxygen ions. Surface roughness parameters are unaffected by variations in contact angles. The contact angle measurement demonstrated that enhancing the surface wettability and hydrophilicity of the tested polymer can be achieved by increasing the ion fluencies. Increasing the ion fluence caused an improvement in the adhesion work (A w ) due to decreasing the contact angles. The highest value of the solid surface free energy (γ s ) was detected in the bombarded sample with 0.44 × 10 19 ions/cm 2 , whereas the lowest value was determined in the blank sample. Furthermore, the alteration in the absorption spectra of the bombarded films is noticeable in the dent region, whereas their absorption spectra at longer wavelengths are nearly indistinguishable. Increasing the ions fluences led to a reduction in the skin depth of the bombarded samples, particularly in the dent region, which indicates the reduction of their transparency. The reduction of the band gap energy values can be attributed to intermediate-level creation in the band gap of the bombarded samples. Ion bombardment induces an augmentation in the creation of covalent bonds among different chains by the action of free radicals. This leads to changes in the densities, extinction coefficient, and refractive indices of the samples under investigation.