Highly reflective and adhesive surface of aluminized polyvinyl chloride film by vacuum evaporation

Aluminized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) film with high reflectivity and strong adhesion was facilely fabricated by vacuum evaporation. The technical study revealed that both alkali-pretreatment of the PVC matrix and thermal annealing after aluminization could greatly promote the peeling adhesion force of this metal/polymer composite by producing interfacial active chemical groups and removing the inner stress, respectively. Reflectivity test and AFM study indicated that the reflecting capacitance of the aluminum coating was closely related to the surface roughness, which can be easily controlled by modulating deposition of aluminum. Moreover, the formation of aluminum layer follows an island model process, and a continuous and smooth coating with highest reflectivity and lowest surface resistance was achieved at deposition time of 60 s. We anticipate that the cost-effective metallized PVC film by this strategy may find extensive applications in light harvesting, solar energy, and flexible mirrors, among others.