CHARACTERIZATION OF ADHESIVE AND COATING CONSTITUENTS BY TIME-OF-FLIGHT SECONDARY-ION MASS-SPECTROMETRY (TOF-SIMS) .1. EPOXY-TERMINATED DIGLYCIDYL POLYETHERS OF BISPHENOL-A AND PROPAN-2-OL

A series of epoxide resins typically used in adhesive and coating applications have been characterized by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). Using thin-film silver cationization, oligomers containing up to 16 bisphenol-A groups were detected for the epoxide-terminated diglycidyl polyethers of bisphenol-A and propan-2-ol that comprise the bulk resins. For the higher molecular weight resins, the results indicate the additional presence of monoglycol-, diglycol- and phenol-terminated Oligomers. For thicker film specimens, the spectra exhibit signals characteristic of the terminal epoxide and the bisphenol-A components comprising the oligomer chains. Furthermore, the relative intensities of these diagnostic signals reflect the compositions of the epoxide resins in a quantitative manner.