Templateless nanostructuration of polymer surfaces

The surface topography of different polymer films (polyterephthalates, polyolefins, polyethers) after oxidative plasma treatment has been studied. Distinct surface nanopatterns were observed depending on the polymer type and were characterized by SEM. Their geometry and dimensions at low etching degrees (0.5-1 mu m etching depth) could be correlated with their semicrystalline morphology (characterized by DSC, WAXS and SAXS) resulting from the thermal and orientation history. At longer etching the surface structures collapse into a poorly defined submicron pattern with comparable features for all the polymer types. Our results demonstrate the possibility of exploiting the polymer inherent semicrystalline morphology as a template to obtain homogeneous nanopatterns with characteristic geometries on different polymers with non-expensive equipment and simple processing methods.