Structural Changes in Polymer Films by Fast Ion Implantation

In applications from food wrapping to solar sails, polymers films can be subjected to intense charged panicle bombardment and implantation. ETFE (ethylenetetrafluoroethylene) with high impact resistance is used for pumps, valves, tie wraps, and electrical components. PFA (tetrafluoroethylene‐per‐fluoromethoxyethylene) and FEP (tetrafluoroethylene‐hexa‐fluoropropylene) are sufficiently biocompatible to be used as transcutaneous implants since they resist damage from the ionizing space radiation, they can be used in aerospace engineering applications. PVDC (polyvinyllidene‐chloride) is used for food packaging, and combined with others plastics, improves the oxygen barrier responsible for the food preservation. Fluoropolymers are also known for their radiation dosimetry applications, dependent on the type and energy of the radiation, as well as of the beam intensity.In this work ETFE, PFA, FEP and PVDC were irradiated with ions of keV and MeV energies at several fluences and were analyzed through techniques ...