Polymer attenuated total reflection

M. W. AT2rs1, Attenuated Total Reflectance Spectroscopy of Polymers Theory and Practice, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 1996. 

Surface analysis has made enormous contributions to the field of adhesion science. It enabled investigators to probe fundamental aspects of adhesion such as the composition of anodic oxides on metals, the surface composition of polymers that have been pretreated by etching, the nature of reactions occurring at the interface between a primer and a substrate or between a primer and an adhesive, and the orientation of molecules adsorbed onto substrates. Surface analysis has also enabled adhesion scientists to determine the mechanisms responsible for failure of adhesive bonds, especially after exposure to aggressive environments. The objective of this chapter is to review the principals of surface analysis techniques including attenuated total reflection (ATR) and reflection-absorption (RAIR) infrared spectroscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and to present examples of the application of each technique to important problems in adhesion science. 

Surface composition and morphology of copolymeric systems and blends are usually studied by contact angle (wettability) and surface tension measurements and more recently by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS or ESCA). Other techniques that are also used include surface sensitive FT-IR (e.g., Attenuated Total Reflectance, ATR, and Diffuse Reflectance, DR) and EDAX. Due to the nature of each of these techniques, they provide information on varying surface thicknesses, ranging from 5 to 50 A (contact angle and ESCA) to 20,000-30,000 A (ATR-IR and EDAX). Therefore, they can be used together to complement each other in studying the depth profiles of polymer surfaces. 

FTIR instrumentation is mature. A typical routine mid-IR spectrometer has KBr optics, best resolution of around 1cm-1, and a room temperature DTGS detector. Noise levels below 0.1 % T peak-to-peak can be achieved in a few seconds. The sample compartment will accommodate a variety of sampling accessories such as those for ATR (attenuated total reflection) and diffuse reflection. At present, IR spectra can be obtained with fast and very fast FTIR interferometers with microscopes, in reflection and microreflection, in diffusion, at very low or very high temperatures, in dilute solutions, etc. Hyphenated IR techniques such as PyFTIR, TG-FTIR, GC-FTIR, HPLC-FTIR and SEC-FTIR (Chapter 7) can simplify many problems and streamline the selection process by doing multiple analyses with one sampling. Solvent absorbance limits flow-through IR spectroscopy cells so as to make them impractical for polymer analysis. Advanced FTIR... 

Always based on the use of IR spectrophotometry, a novel attenuated total reflection-Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) sensor [42] was proposed for the on-line monitoring of a dechlorination process. Organohalogenated compounds such as trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and carbon tetrachloride (CT) were detected with a limit of a few milligrams per litre, after extraction on the ATR internal-reflection element coated with a hydro-phobic polymer. As for all IR techniques, partial least squares (PLS) calibration models are needed. As previously, this system is promising for bioprocess control and optimization. 

Gaboury, S. R. Urban, M. W. Analysis of Gas-Plasma-Modified Poly(Dimethylsiloxane) Elastomer Surfaces. Attenuated-Total-Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. In Structure-Property Relations in Polymers Urban, M. W., Graver, C. D., Eds. Advances in Chemistry Series 236 American Chemical Society Washington, DC, 1993 pp 777-790. 

A fiber-optic device has been described that can monitor chlorinated hydrocarbons in water (Gobel et al. 1994). The sensor is based on the diffusion of chlorinated hydrocarbons into a polymeric layer surrounding a silver halide optical fiber through which is passed broad-band mid-infrared radiation. The chlorinated compounds concentrated in the polymer absorb some of the radiation that escapes the liber (evanescent wave) this technique is a variant of attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectroscopy. A LOD for chloroform was stated to be 5 mg/L (5 ppm). This sensor does not have a high degree of selectivity for chloroform over other chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons, but appears to be useful for continuous monitoring purposes. 

Castillo, E. J., Koenig, J. L., Anderson, J. M., Kliment, C. K., and Lo, J. Surface analysis of biomedical polymers by attenuated total reflectance-fourier transform infra-red. Biomaterials 1984, 5(4), 186-193. 

Rossi et al. [30] evaluated rheologically mucins of different origin with polyacrylic acid and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. The same group also reported a novel rheological approach based on a stationary viscoelastic test (creep test) to describe the interaction between mucoadhesive polymers and mucins [31,32]. Jabbari et al. [33] used attenuated total-reflection infrared spectroscopy to investigate the ehain interpenetration of polyaciylic acid in the mucin interface. 

Solymar, L. and Walsh, D. 1998. Electrical Properties of Materials. Oxford University Press, New York. Turi, E. 1997. Thermal Characterization of Polymeric Materials, 2nd ed. Academic Press, Orlando, PL. Urban, M. 1996. Attenuated Total Reflectance Spectroscopy of Polymers. Oxford University Press, New York. 

Principal Component Regression (PCR) was used by Tuchbreiter and MueUiaupt to determine the composition of a number of random ethane/propene, ethane/1-hexene, and ethane/l-octene copolymers [120]. After polymerization, the polymers were characterized by both Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FT-IR) and C NMR and multivariate calibration models using PCR were subsequently developed to estimate the co-monomer content. 

Many polymers are too tough to be ground even at liquid nitrogen temperatures. Consequently, surface techniques are often used. Internal reflectance or attenuated total reflectance (ATR) is the second most commonly used infrared technique [38-40]. For soft or pliable polymers or solutions, ATR is an extremely versatile technique and the spectrum is similar to a transmission spectrum. Unlike transmission, the spectrum obtained is independent of sample thickness. 

Urban, M.W., Attenuated Total Reflection Spectroscopy of Polymers." American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1996. 

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used for elemental analysis of plasma-deposited polymer films. The photoelectron spectrometer (Physical Electronics, Model 548) was used with an X-ray source of Mg Ka (1253.6 eV). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of plasma polymers deposited on the steel substrate were recorded on a Perkin-Elmer Model 1750 spectrophotometer using the attenuated total reflection (ATR) technique. The silane plasma-deposited steel sample was cut to match precisely the surface of the reflection element, which was a high refractive index KRS-5 crystal. 

The attenuated total reflection (ATR) method measures the reflection coefficients of vertically and horizontally polarized light reflected from a polymer layer adsorbed on a transparent surface63. These coefficients allow the thickness of the adsorbed layer and the polymer concentration in it to be determined. 

Urban MW (1996) Attenuated Total reflectance spectroscopy of polymers polymer surfaces and interfaces series. ACS, Washington DC... 

Synthetic surfactants and polymers are probably most often used to modify the characteristics of a solid surface, i.e., they function at the solid - liquid interface, such as in the processes of detergency, lubrication, or the formation of adhesive bonds. The performance of modem FT - IR spectrometers is such that many new applications to the characterization of the solid - liquid interface, particularly in kinetics studies, are possible. Reflection - absorption spectroscopy and attenuated total reflectance (ATR) techniques have been applied to "wet" interfaces, even the air - water interface, and have figured prominently in recent studies of "self -assembled" mono - and multilayers. 

In the various sections of this chapter, I will briefly describe the major characteristics of FT-IR, and then relate the importance of these characteristics to physiochemical studies of colloids and interfaces. This book is divided into two major areas studies of "bulk" colloidal aggregates such as micelles, surfactant gels and bilayers and studies of interfacial phenomena such as surfactant and polymer adsorption at the solid-liquid interface. This review will follow the same organization. A separate overview chapter addresses the details of the study of interfaces via the attenuated total reflection (ATR) and grazing angle reflection techniques. 

Chen A, Chuyanov V, Garner S, Steier WH, Dalton LR (1997) Modified attenuated total reflection for the fast and routine electro-optic measurements of nonlinear optical polymer films. In Organic thin films for photonic applications, vol 14. Optical Society of America, Washington DC,p 158... 

The effect of ultraviolet irradiation in air on the wettability of thin films of amorphous polymers has been studied. With poly(vinyl chloride), poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(n-butyl methacrylate), poly (ethylene terephthalate), and polystyrene the changes in contact angles for various liquids with irradiation time are a function of the nature of the polymer. A detailed study of polystyrene by this technique and attenuated total reflectance spectra, both of which are sensitive to changes in the surface layers, indicates that the contact angle method is one of the most sensitive tools for the study of polymer photooxidation in its early stages. The method is useful in following specific processes and in indicating solvents to be used in the separation and isolation of photooxidation products. 

Plasma-polymerized materials differ significantly from those polymerized by conventional methods in their surface properties, and surface tension values do not correspond. This difference may be due to the highly cross-linked nature of plasma polymers or to the incorporation of other entities from the carrier gas. These effects are more important than the intrinsic differences in backbone fiexibility. Wrobel (88) presents ATR-IR (attenuated total reflection infrared) spectroscopic data indicating that silazanes and silanes cross-link more readily than do siloxanes under plasma conditions. Wrobel and his co-workers (89) have also used contact angles to study the thermal decomposition of plasma-polymerized organosilicon polymers. 

PAP has been demonstrated both by attenuated total reflection (ATR) EO modulation and by second harmonic generation (SHG). Figure 8.1 shows the first PAP experiments reported for DRl in fihns of PMMA. This figure shows the evolution of the EO Pockels coefficient of a film of the DRl-PMMA side-chain polymer, which is shown in Figure 8.2, during a typical... 

---