Plasma based ion implantation of engineering polymers

Surface compositional changes reflected a relative decrease in the C-content and increase in the N-content for both polymers, while alterations in the peak shapes suggested degradation of the amide group with the formation of imine, protonated amine and urethane-like moieties for PA, and degradation of surface carbonate groups with the formation of imine, tertiary amine and amide-like groups for PC. The hydrophilicity of the surface increased and the surface electrical resistance decreased significantly for both polymers. The volume loss, obtained by the multi-pass scratch test, decreased from the original value expressed as V0 = 100%, down to V = 11% and 59% for PA and PC, respectively. For PA the incorporation of some N had a favorable effect on the resistance to abrasive wear, but an excessive amount of N decreased this effect. Similarly, for PC a significant increase of the wear resistance could not be reached by the mere increase of the total N-content, but the surface concentration of tertiary amine type N should be maximized. The latter showed positive correlations with the fluence and the fluence rate applied.