Influence of Ion Irradiation on the Surface Properties of Silver-Coated Flexible PDMS Polymeric Films

In the present paper, the surface properties of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films were modified by exposure to argon (Ar) ion beam with a fluence of 0.25 × 1018 ion.cm−2 to 1 × 1018 ion.cm−2. The pristine and irradiated PDMS films were examined through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and contact angle (CA) measurements. The SEM of irradiated films reveals a modification in the morphology due to ion irradiation. On the other hand, the CA data showed an enhancement in the adhesion wettability due to the formation of hydrophilic functional groups. In addition, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were deposited on the modified PDMS substrate using ion beam-sputtering technique. Then, PDMS and Ag/PDMS films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD (and UV/Vis optical spectroscopy. XRD showed a successful deposition of AgNPs on PDMS substrate, while the optical transmittance intensity is reduced for Ag/PDMS than PDMS, and the optical band gap Eg is decreased from 5.22 eV for PDMS to 5.05 eV for Ag/PDMS. The results illustrated significant modifications in PDMS due to AgNPs deposition.