Grafting of polypropylene and poly(vinylidene fluoride) films implanted with Ar+ ions

Polypropylene (PP) and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) films were irradiated with 100 keV Argon ions and with different fluences from 1012 up to 2 × 1015 cm−2. PP and PVDF films were grafted with styrene and PVDF was also grafted with acrylic acid (AA). The grafting yields were determined by measuring the weight differences and analysing the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and UV-visible (UV-Vis) spectra. The effects on the measured grafting yields for different ion fluences and monomer concentrations were studied and are reported in this paper. The grafting yield exhibit the common feature of showing a maximum as a function of the ion fluence. To our knowledge the present work study systematically for the first time the grafting process induced by the irradiation with low energy Argon beams on the surface of PVDF and PP samples.