Highly conductive poly(phenylene sulfide) prepared by high-energy ion irradiation

Abstract

Ion irradiation of poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) films with various ions produces highly conductive films. Using 5.6-MeV fluorine ions, the conductivity of irradiated films at a dose of 1×1016 ions/cm2 is comparable to chemically doped films (0.77 S/cm), and higher conductivities should be possible with higher doses. Iodine ions of 50 MeV produced films with similar conductivities at a dose of 1×1014 ions/cm2: the highest conductivity reported for an organic material irradiated by such a low dose. Films irradiated with 0.32-MeV lithium ions did not change their conductivity up to 1×1015 ions/cm2. We attribute the higher conductivities obtained in our iodine irradiated films to the substantially higher electronic energy deposition associated with 50-MeV I ions. The Li-implanted films showed no substantial change in conductivity probably because their energy deposition rates are too low.