ION-BEAM MODIFICATION OF AROMATIC POLYMERS

We studied the optical, mechanical and thermal properties of aromatic polymer films which had been irradiated with 1 MeV H+, H-2+ and He+ io ns. The examined aromatic polymers were polyetherether ketone (PEEK), polyetherimide (PEI), polyether sulfon (PES), polysulfon (PSF), and po lyphenylene sulfide (PPS). The optical densities at 300 nm of PES and PSF greatly increased after the irradiation. The optical densities at 400 nm of all the examined polymer linearly increased with the irradia tion dose. Elongations of all the polymers at room temperature were re duced after irradiation. The PEEK film which had been irradiated with 1 MeV H+ was not deformed above the melting point. This demonstrates t hat cross-linking occurs in PEEK films by ion beam irradiation. As for the effects, depending on the mass of the irradiated ions, it was fou nd that the ions with a high mass induced larger effects on the aromat ic polymers for the same absorption energy.