Surface analysis of polymers

D. Briggs, Surface Analysis of Polymers by XPS and Statie SIMS, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (UK) (1998). 

Polymer Surface Analysis. The major technique used for the surface analysis of polymers has been X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS or ESCA). However, this technique is often not adequate to determine the molecular structure of polymers. This has prompted many workers to explore the potential of SIMS for this work (11-16). Significant problems encountered with ion beam bombardment in conjunction with electron beam charge neutralization have been drift in the polymer surface potential and thermal damage from the combined effects of the electron and ion beams. These problems do not exist when utilizing FAB in conjunction with photoelectron charge neutralization. 

The primary technique for the surface analysis of polymers (3-4), including biomaterials (5-6) over the last decade has been X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS or GSCA). The technique has been employed to study the interfacial orientation, contamination, modifications, eg plasma treatments (7) and protein deposition on biomedical polymers ( ). While XPS provides valuable multi-element (except hydrogen) and chemical state information, the limited range... 

Sparrow, G. R., Mishmash, H. E., Surface Analysis of Polymers and Glass... 

The PMMA and PET data show clearly the limitations of the ISS technique in providing the intrinsic composition of the outermost surface of polymers no static conditions for ISS analysis on polymers has been achieved with acceptable signal/noise ratio. Nevertheless, it has been shown elsewhere (15.16) that ISS, used with other complementary surface techniques, may be helpful for solving practical problems related to the polymers surface. Static SIMS has been shown to be more suitable than ISS for the surface analysis of polymers. ISS and SSIMS... 

Briggs D (2001) Surface analysis of polymers. In Vicker-man JC and Briggs D (eds.) ToF-SIMS Surface Analysis by Mass Spectrometry. Manchester SurfaceSpectra/IM Publications. 

Jerome R, Teyssie P, Pireaux JJ, Verbist JJ. Surface analysis of polymers end-capped with metal carboxylates using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Appl Surf Sci 1986 27 93-105. 

XPS is one of the most popular spectroscopic methods for surface analysis of polymers. It provides qualitative and quantitative information on the atomic composition down to a depth of typically 0.5-10 nm depending on the take-off angle, hi an XPS instrument the sample is positioned in a high vacuum chamber and is irradiated with a monochromatic X-ray source (generally AIXq or MgK ) resulting in an emission of photoelectrons from the exposed surface region. The XPS spectriun shows the number of photoelec-... 

Section 3.10. Electron spectroscopy for chemical applications (ESCA) is a relatively new method useful for surface analysis of polymers see Section 12.3. 

High-resolution XPS databases of organic polymers are available [59,62,63]. Various books [4,15, 42,64,65] and reviews [53] deal with XPS and surface analysis of polymers. The history of XPS is contained in refs. [15,66,67]. ARXPS has also been reviewed [68]. 

Gardalla and Grobe compared attenuated total reflectance and photoacoustic sampling for surface analysis of polymer mixtures by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. They show that analysis by attenuated total reflectance is more suitable for smooth surfaces and is faster. Photoacoustic methods have shallower sampling depths than attenuated total reflectance but the latter technique is applicable over a range that is more controllable. 

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