Micro/nano tribological and water wetting characteristics of ion beam treated PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) surfaces were experimentally studied. The ion beam treatment was performed with a hollow cathode ion gun at different argon ion dose condition...
Micro/nano tribological and water wetting characteristics of ion beam treated PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) surfaces were experimentally studied. The ion beam treatment was performed with a hollow cathode ion gun at different argon ion dose conditions in a vacuum chamber to modify the topography of PTFE surface. Micro/nano tribological characteristics, water wetting angles and roughness were measured with a micro tribe tester, SPM (scanning probe microscope), contact anglemeter and profilometer, respectively. Results showed that surface roughness increased with the argon ion dose. Water wetting angle of the ion beam treated samples increased with the ion dose, so the surface shows an ultra-hydrophobic nature. Micro-adhesion and micro-friction depend on the wetting characteristics of the PTFE samples. However, nano-tribological characteristics showed different results. The scale effect of surface topography on tribological characteristics was discussed. Also, the water wetting characteristics of modified PTFE samples were discussed in terms of the surface topographic characteristics.