CHANGES OF PEEK SURFACE-CHEMISTRY BY ION IRRADIATION

The changes of chemical structure, induced by irradiation with 2 MeV O f ions on the surface of poly(aryl-ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK), were in vestigated by using IR and UV-VIS spectroscopies. The surface topograp hy of the irradiated PEEK was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). T he ion irradiation results in a degradation of aromatic rings and in t he production of regions enriched with conjugated double bonds. Implan ted oxygen is bound to the ion beam-modified polymer structures. The i on irradiation has no effect on the content of the PEEK crystalline ph ase. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.