Laser ablation and the unzipping of addition polymer

Ability to control decomposition path and products for addition polymers is important in many applications ranging from thin film fabrication and basic understanding of reaction kinetics to evaluating the feasibility of thermal routes for the recycling of addition polymers. Laser ablation, a technique widely used to deposit thin films of a variety of inorganic materials, can also be used as a simple and highly versatile method for the deposition of thin polymer films of materials that are difficult to process and studying decomposition kinetics as well. In situ studies of the products formed by the laser/polymer interaction suggest that, as in standard pyrolysis, decomposition of poly(tetrafluorethylene), poly(methylmethacrylate), and poly(alpha-methyl styrene) proceeds via chain unzipping leading to monomer. Unexpectedly, high monomer yields are also observed for addition polymers that pyrolyze by random scission producing little or no monomer. Examples of such materials presented here include poly(vinylfluoride) and polypropylene. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.