Modification of track membranes with ion-plasma sputtered tungsten

Materials Research Express. 2018. Vol. 5. No. 096404. P. 1–9.

Pavlenko V. I., Bondarenko G.G., Cherkashina N. I., Manaev V. A., Zaitsev S. V.

This paper presents data on the modification of track membranes, based on polyethylene
terephthalate, with magnetron sputtered tungsten. The initial and metallized track membrane surfaces
were analyzed by microscopy, and a comparison completed. The maximum coating thickness was
established to be 70 nm, upon which the pore diameter on the surface of the metalized membrane did
not change. The change in the hydrophobicity of the track membrane surface after sputtering was
determined. It was shown that the tungsten metallization of the surface significantly reduced the
contact angle for membrane wetting from 68° to 29°, and this reduction was observed only after 30
days. The change in the optical characteristics of the track membrane after tungsten metallization was
shown by measuring the optical density over a wide wavelength range (310–990 nm). The main
electrical characteristics of metallized polyethylene terephthalate films and metallized track
membranes were also investigated. It was established that the sputtering of tungsten on all the samples
under study sharply reduced their dielectric properties and converted them to semiconductors,
because the surface and specific electrical resistance decreased by almost 20 orders of magnitude.

Keywords: модификация, вольфрам, modification, tungsten, track membrane, трековая мембрана