The Morphology and Mechanical Properties of Polycarbonate/Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Modified by Ar Ion Beam Irradiation

Abstract

Abstract This study examined the surface morphological evolution of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PC/ABS) irradiated with an Ar ion beam using an ion beam system. PC was not affected by the Ar ion beam treatment at a lower ion beam treatment times but the ABS portion formed a foam‐like nanostructure at the surface. On the other hand, both PC and ABS formed nanostructures with length of 100 to 120 nm and a mean diameter of ≈35 nm at longer beam treatment times. The Raman and FTIR spectra revealed polymer chain scissioning. Nanoindentation showed that the hardness and elastic modulus of the PC/ABS decreases from 0.22 to 0.18 GPa and from 3.39 to 2.98 GPa, respectively with increasing Ar ion beam treatment time due to the surface nano‐structures formed by Ar ion beam. magnified image