XPS characterisation of plasma treated and zinc oxide coated PET

Abstract At first, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses of reference and carbon dioxide plasma treated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were carried out. Significant chemical modifications were outlined in the treated PET surface in comparison with the reference one. The formation of new oxygenated groups was evidenced. These modifications heighten the level of interactions between the polymer substrate and the deposited coating. In a second stage, zinc oxide thin films were elaborated by r.f. magnetron sputtering from a ceramic target and with a reactive gas (mixture of argon–1% oxygen) under optimised conditions on CO 2 plasma treated PET. The interfacial chemistry between the plasma treated PET and the zinc oxide was also studied by XPS. The line shape changes in the high-resolution core level spectra of carbon C1s, oxygen O1s, and zinc (Zn2p3/2, Zn3p), with the progressive deposition of zinc oxide coatings being recorded. The obtained spectra were fitted to mixed Gaussian–Lorentzian components using XPS CASA software. An interaction scheme between the zinc oxide thin layer and its polymer substrate, in the first stage of deposition, was proposed and checked by corroborating the findings of the different XPS spectra and their decompositions. It suggests the formation of Zn O C complexes at the interface, which are promoted by an electron transfer from zinc to oxygen in oxygenated species, mainly alcohol groups, generated by the CO 2 plasma treatment of PET.