Surface characterization of functional nanostructures sputtered on fiber substrates

Textile materials consisting of polymer fibers provide an excellent platform for the integration of functional structures to improve the performance of the materials. In this study, the sputter coating of copper was used to deposit functional nanostructures on the surfaces of ordinary polymer fibers, polymer microfibers and polymer nanofibers. The funtionalized surfaces of the fibers were examined using Atomic force microscope (AFM), Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM) and electrical resistance measurement. The observations by AFM revealed the remarkable changes in the surface morphology with different fibers. The ESEM examination showed the introduction of functional Cu nanostructures built on the polymer fiber, microfibers and nanofiber surfaces. It was also found that the electrical resistance of the sputtered copper decreased with the increase in fiber fineness.