Abstract
The effects of thin film nucleation and initial growth on
roughness, chemistry and thermomechanical properties of
polymer film surfaces were studied. Al2O3 was deposited
onto commercial biaxially oriented polypropylene and
polylactic acid films at 80 °C by using atomic layer
deposition technique. Both substrates, especially the
more
hydrophobic polypropylene, showed initial growth through
Al2O3 clusters. There was a faster deposition
of Al2O3 on polylactic acid film than on polypropylene at
the early stages of the Al2O3 deposition. There were
also indications of chemical interactions between
polylactic acid and trimethyl aluminum used as a
precursor
for Al2O3. Changes in the thermo-mechanical properties of
the polymer surfaces with Al2O3also evidenced
the differences between the substrate polymer films. The
near surface interphase formed in polylactic
acid probably contributed to the strong increase and
scattering in the softening temperature during the early
thin film growth
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 50 - 57 |
Journal | Thin Solid Films |
Volume | 522 |
Issue number | November |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2012 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Keywords
- Aluminum oxide
- atomic force microscopy
- atomic layer deposition
- characterization
- growth
- thin film
- transition temperature microscopy
- x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy