"

Cookies ussage consent

Our site saves small pieces of text information (cookies) on your device in order to deliver better content and for statistical purposes. You can disable the usage of cookies by changing the settings of your browser. By browsing our site without changing the browser settings you grant us permission to store that information on your device.

Nano/micro surface structural study of swift heavy ions irradiated PVDF Films by AFM

D. S. RANA1,* , D. K. CHATURVEDI1, J. K. QUAMARA2

Affiliation

  1. Institute of Instrumentation Engineering, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra-India
  2. Department of Physics, National institute of Technology, Kurukshetra-India

Abstract

The surface topography, structure and surface mechanical properties of pristine and energetic ion irradiated PVDF films have been investigated using Atomic force microscopy (AFM) in trapping mode. The Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer films (9, 12 and 20 μm) were irradiated with 100 MeV Ag-ion (fluence; 1.8X1011 ions/cm2), and 75 MeV Oxygen- ion (fluences; 5.6X1011 ions/cm2, 1X1012 ions/cm2 and 5.6X1012 ions/cm2) beams with different beam currents ranging from 0.2- 0.5PnA(particle nanoampere) using the PELLETRON facility at Inter University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi to study ion irradiation effects on the surface of thin films. The AFM micrographs show the presence of small granular microstructure in pristine as well as irradiated PVDF samples. The AFM morphological characterizations of irradiated films reveal the formation of nano sized crater and hillocks on the sample surface. The AFM is also used to estimate average surface roughness, hardness, grain size, grain density and other structural parameters. The average surface roughness and grain size decreases after ion irradiation and the decrease dependents on the ion species, ion energy, ions beam current and fluences. However the grain size is more in lower energy ion (Oxygen-ion) irradiated samples than higher energy ion (Ag-ion) irradiated samples. Hall-Petch effect has been observed in PVDF thin films after ion beam irradiation i.e., increase in hardness of PVDF films upon ion beam irradiation.

Keywords

PVDF film, Ag-ion irradiation, SHI, AFM, TMAFM, TEM.

Citation

D. S. RANA, D. K. CHATURVEDI, J. K. QUAMARA, Nano/micro surface structural study of swift heavy ions irradiated PVDF Films by AFM, Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials - Rapid Communications, 3, 7, July 2009, pp.737-743 (2009).

Submitted at: July 16, 2009

Accepted at: July 20, 2009