Microhardness and tribological properties of polyimide composites modified by 200 keV Ar ion implantation

Abstract Polyimide/fluorinated ethylene propylene (FI/FEP) laminated composites were implanted with Ar 8 + ions of the total energy of 200 keV and current density of 5 A/cm 2 . The changes in chemical structures of PI/FEP composites, induced by ion implantation, were analyzed by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The microhardness, elastic modulus and tribological properties of PI/FEP composites were measured, respectively. The results demonstrated that during the implantation process the imide structures were partly destroyed; meanwhile, carbon-rich, graphite-like and amorphous structures were formed in the near-surface area of the polyimide layers. The change of chemical structure in the surface layer brought about the enhancement of microhardness, elastic modulus and tribological property. Moreover, the extent of improvement of tribological property depends on the implanted fluence.