Surface modification of fluorocarbon polymers by vacuum-UV excimer lamp irradiation in reactive gas atmosphere

Irradiation of poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) and poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-hexafluoropropylene) (FEP) polymer films in an ammonia or hydrazine atmosphere with vacuum UV light resulted in a hydrophilic surface, where abstraction of fluorine atoms and introduction of nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms occurred. We used Kr2* and Xe2* excimer lamps at wavelengths of 172 nm and 146 nm, respectively. The reaction mechanism for chemical surface modification is discussed on the basis of the results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, scanning electron spectroscopy, and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses.