Premium
Photostabilization of polycarbonate by ZnO coatings
Author(s) -
Moustaghfir A.,
Rivaton A.,
Tomasella E.,
Mailhot B.,
Cellier J.,
Jacquet M.,
Gardette J.L.
Publication year - 2004
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.21316
Subject(s) - polycarbonate , materials science , photodegradation , zinc , bisphenol a , sputter deposition , chemical engineering , deposition (geology) , sputtering , layer (electronics) , photocatalysis , analytical chemistry (journal) , composite material , thin film , metallurgy , chemistry , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , paleontology , engineering , sediment , epoxy , biology , catalysis
Abstract The photostability of bisphenol‐A polycarbonate (PC) can be increased by depositing zinc oxide (ZnO) coatings onto PC films by radiofrequency (rf) magnetron sputtering using an ArO 2 plasma. The photoprotective efficiency increases with the thickness of the ZnO layer and also depends on the sputtering parameters (rf power, total pressure, plasma composition), which control the properties of coatings. The increasing thickness of the deposits is correlated with variations of the density, grain size, and composition. PC samples with ZnO coatings were submitted to artificial accelerated ageing (λ > 300 nm) and the extent of the photodegradation was evaluated by infrared and UV–visible spectroscopies. All the deposition parameters were optimized as a function of the results obtained in photoageing and are described in this article. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 95: 380–385, 2005