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Suppression of radiation‐induced oxidation of polymers by sputtered silicon oxide coating
Author(s) -
Zheng W.,
Kobayashi Y.,
Hirata K.,
Miura T.,
Kobayashi T.,
Iwaki M.,
Oka T.,
Hama Y.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.10061
Subject(s) - materials science , silicon oxide , silicon , oxygen permeability , polymer , oxide , coating , oxygen , polypropylene , sputter deposition , polyethylene , chemical engineering , composite material , sputtering , thin film , nanotechnology , chemistry , organic chemistry , silicon nitride , engineering , metallurgy
Oxygen barrier coating on polymers was attempted to obtain polymeric composite materials with improved radiation resistance. Silicon oxide (SiO 1.6 ) films ranging from 120 to 240 nm thick were formed on polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. Oxygen permeability after SiO 1.6 deposition was reduced significantly in all samples studied, indicating that silicon oxide is a useful gas barrier. The oxygen permeability coefficient of deposited films for PP was 1.7–2.2 × 10 −14 cm 3 ‐cm/cm 2 /s/cmHg and that for PE was 2.8–4.8 × 10 −13 cm 3 ‐cm/cm 2 /s/cmHg. We studied the effect of such films on the radiation resistance of polymers in the presence of oxygen by microscopic infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy. Silicon oxide films 180 nm thick were deposited on the surfaces of PP and PE, and the formation of carbonyl groups after irradiation in air was measured as a function of depth from the surface. Results compared with those for uncoated PE and PP showed that the radiation‐induced polymer oxidation is dramatically suppressed by silicon oxide coating. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 83: 186–190, 2002