RECENT ADVANCES IN ION AND ELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY OF POLYMER SURFACES

The structure of microdomains and bonding at multicomponent polymer material interfaces has been studied using a variety of surface sensitive spectroscopic techniques. In the author's laboratory, low energy ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS) and static secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) serve to complement results from angular dependent X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS or ESCA), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) with attenuated total reflectance (ATR) sampling and SEM techniques to provide a quantitative picture of the relationships between structure, bonding, morphology and microdomain formation in near surface regions of polymer systems. The added surface sensitivity of ISS can yield quantitative information at a sampling depth of 3-5 A, which, with ESCA and FTIR analysis yields a 'nondestructive' depth profile of domain formation in copolymer and blend systems. These studies are illustrated with results from siloxane and siloxane/polycarbonate copolymer systems, where a complete picture of surface domain formation and morphology as a function of composition and polymer crystallinity has been developed.