Morphological and Chemical Evolution of Gradually Deposited Diamond-Like Carbon Films on Polyethylene Terephthalate: From Subplantation Processes to Structural Reorganization by Intrinsic Stress Release Phenomena.

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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Morphological and Chemical Evolution of Gradually Deposited Diamond-Like Carbon Films on Polyethylene Terephthalate: From Subplantation Processes to Structural Reorganization by Intrinsic Stress Release Phenomena.

Franco Mario Gelardi Qiaochu Guo Alberto Catena Stefan Wehner Simonpietro Agnello Michael R. Kunze Christian B. Fischer

subject

Materials science film dehydrogenation Diamond-like carbon chemistry.chemical_element grain analysi Nanotechnology 02 engineering and technology Chemical vapor deposition 01 natural sciences Contact angle chemistry.chemical_compound symbols.namesake 0103 physical sciences Polyethylene terephthalate Deposition (phase transition)General Materials Science RF-PECVD Raman 010302 applied physics amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H)Settore FIS/01 - Fisica Sperimentale interlayer formation 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology DRIFT chemistry Chemical engineering symbols Wetting Materials Science (all)0210 nano-technology Raman spectroscopy Carbon

description

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are nowadays intensively studied composites due to their excellent gas barrier properties and biocompatibility. Despite their applicative features being highly explored, the interface properties and structural film evolution of DLC coatings on PET during deposition processes are still sparsely investigated. In this study two different types of DLC films were gradually deposited on PET by radio frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD) using acetylene plasma. The surface morphology of the deposited samples has been analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Their chemical composition was investigated by diffusive reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) and Raman spectroscopy analysis and the surface wettability by contact angle measurements. Subplantation processes and interface effects are revealed through the morphological and chemical analysis of both types. During plasma deposition processes the increasing carbon load causes the rise of intrinsic film stress. It is proven that stress release phenomena cause the transition between polymer-like to a more cross-linked DLC network by folding dehydrogenated chains into closed 6-fold rings. These findings significantly lead to an enhanced understanding in DLC film growth mechanism by RF-PECVD processes.

year	journal	country	edition	language
2016-04-09	ACS applied materialsinterfaces

10.1021/acsami.6b02113 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27058762