Grafting of PNIPAAm on PVDF submicroscopic tracks induced by the active sites remainders of the etching process

Abstract The present work is part of a systematic study that involves different polymeric substrates and monomers with the purpose to induce grafting on etched tracks. The residual active sites produced by heavy ion beams, remaining after the etching process, were used to start the grafting process. In order to produce tracks on foils of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) they were irradiated with 208 Pb of 25.62 MeV/n or with 115 MeV Cl ions. Then, they were etched and grafted with N -isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) monomers. Experimental curves of grafting yield as a function of fluence with the etching time as a parameter were measured. Also, the grafting yield as a function of the grafting and etching time was obtained. The replica method allowed the observation of the shape of the grafted tracks using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition NIPAAm grafted foils were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).