Modifying of surface properties and structural characteristics of low energy argon beam irradiated methylcellulose/TiO2 nanocomposite films

Flexible polymeric nanocomposites MC/TiO2 films, which consisting of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and methyl cellulose (MC) were fabricated in this research for applied in coating devices. The successful manufacturing of MC/TiO2 sheets were verified by FTIR, SEM and XRD methods, which demonstrated a uniform distribution of TiO2 in MC. Additionally, the chemical bonds of MC and TiO2 contribute for the broadening and decreasing of MC in the peaks intensity of XRD and FTIR with increasing TiO2, indicating the successful incorporation of TiO2 in MC. The impacts of argon beam bombardment on MC/TiO2 composites using cold cathode source with fluencies (2.5x10(15), 5x10(15) and 7.5x10(15) ions/cm(2)). The contact angle, work of adhesion and surface free energy of MC/TiO2 were determined as a function of ion irradiation. The water contact angle is decreased from 70.32o to 43.34o by increasing ion fluence from 2.5x10(15) ions/cm(2) to 7.5x10(15) ions/cm(2), while the surface free energy is enhanced from 38.83 mJ/m(2) to 64.17 mJ/m(2). The collected data confirmed that the surface wettability of the irradiated MC/TiO2 films were improved to be can usage in coating and printing applications.