Irradiation effects of Cu ions on the electrical and morphological properties of polypropylene

The irradiation of metallic ions on polymeric surfaces may change the chemical, electrical and physical properties of polymers. In this article, we have investigated the effects on the electrical and morphological properties of polypropylene caused by irradiating with copper (Cu) ions generated from laser-produced plasmas. For this purpose Nd: YAG laser (1064 nm) was employed to produce Cu ions. The flux of ions was controlled by varying the number of laser shots in the range 100–400, with a step size of 100. The changes in the electrical conductivity of the irradiated sample were studied using a four-point probe technique, while the surface features were examined by using optical microscopy. The electrical conductivity changed from 4.758 × 10 ⁻⁸ Ω ⁻¹ cm ⁻¹ to 5.003 × 10 ⁻⁸ Ω ⁻¹ cm ⁻¹ for unexposed and exposed (with 400 shots) samples, respectively.