Optical, chemical and structural modification of oxygen irradiated PET

Membranes of polyethylene terephthalate, irradiated by O6+ ions at various fluences were characterized by UV/VIS, FTIR, Micro-Raman spectroscopy's, X-ray diffraction and Atomic force microscopy. UV/VIS measurements indicate shifting of the absorption edge from ultraviolet towards visible regions indicating carbonization while FTIR measurement shows the material degradation. The intensities of Raman band of ion irradiated polymer increases with the ion fluence. XRD results show decrease and shift in main peak of irradiated PET. Surface roughness is found to decrease with increasing ion fluence. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.