Properties of polyamide 6 and polyvinylidene fluoride nanofibers irradiated by H+ ions

This work deals with the modification of polymeric nanofibers of polyamide 6 (PA6) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) which were formed by electrospinning process. After the manufacturing process, the polymer nanofibers were exposed to the implantation of 1 MeV H+ ions on a tandem accelerator Tandetron MC 4130. The ion implantation was provided with different ion fluences (1.8; 3.7; 5.6)×1014 cm-2. Ion implantation of polymer nanofibers can modify their functional properties due to ion interaction with nanofibers changing their structure and elemental composition. H-ion interaction with nanofibers was simulated by SRIM program which shows the modification of polymers by prevailing electronic stopping. Rutherford Back-Scattering spectrometry (RBS) and Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA) show distinct elemental modification in the irradiated layer of PVDF and PA6 nanofibers. The changes in surface chemistry was identified by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The identified chemical changes contributed to the changes of electrical properties (increase of electrical conductivity) being measured by the standard two-point method.