Morphological control of polymer surface by atomic oxygen beam

Goto, Aki*; Yamashita, Shinichi*; Kitamura, Akane; Tagawa, Masahito*

no journal, , 

Atomic oxygen (AO) oxidizes and erodes several polymers used as thermal control films for satellites. The AO-irradiated surface is densely covered with microscopic protrusions. In this study, we focus the morphological change as unique modification. PE, PP and PS surfaces are observed by FE-SEM after AO-irradiation, and it is found that the AO fluence and chemical structures of these polymers are important factors for control the density of protrusions.