Evaluation of a mirror-polishing technique for fluorocarbon polymer surfaces for reduction of contamination from containers used in ultratrace analysis

A mirror-polishing technique for fluorocarbon polymer surfaces using high-precision diamond cutting tools was developed. The goal of this technique was the reduction of ultratrace elemental analysis contamination levels of containers fabricated from such mirror-polished materials. Remarkably smooth inner surfaces with degrees of flatness of 0.1 mu m peak-to-valley (PTV) for containers fabricated from mirror-polished PTFE materials were obtained, in contrast to degrees of surface flatness of more than 30 mu m PTV for commercially available PTFE containers. (Here, PTV denotes the difference between the highest peak and deepest valley in a scanned area of 10 x 10 mu m.) Extractable impurity levels for mirror-polished PTFE container surfaces were reduced by more than 1 order of magnitude relative to those of unpolished PTFE containers. The surface conditions of the PTFE containers were observed by atomic force and scanning electron microscopy. The microphotographs so obtained suggest that the degree of surface smoothness of the containers is proportional to their ultratrace metallic contamination levels.