Surface morphology and optical characterization of argon plasma treatment of polyaniline emeraldine base at various powers
Abstract
Polyaniline Emeraldine Base (PAni-EB) film was fabricated on glass substrate. The SEM images show no significant difference for the untreated and treated PAni-EB films. It was found that as the argon plasma power increases, the transmittance and reflectance decreases, while the optical constants index of refraction (n), absorption coefficient α (m–1) and extinction coefficient (k) also increases. There was a noticeable shift in the transmittance maxima and minima. Reflectance maxima were removed, while minima did not change. It was also observed that color appearance changed from bluish to darkish. Possible reason is due to deterioration of the polymer surfaces brought about by high argon plasma power.