The production of porous glassy carbon membranes from swift heavy ion irradiated Kapton

Abstract A porous glassy carbon membrane was obtained by first producing ion tracks in a polymeric Kapton film by irradiation with high energy krypton or xenon ions. Pores are formed by selective chemical etching along the ion tracks, and then the film was converted to glassy carbon by heat treatment at 1000 °C under an inert atmosphere. The process yields a self-supported glassy carbon thin membrane. The density of the pores in the membrane depends on the ion irradiation fluence, and the length, diameter and shape of the pores could be controlled by the ion energy and etching procedure.