THE EFFECT OF POLYMER STRUCTURE ON THE EFFICIENCY OF ACID GENERATION FROM TRIARYLSULFONIUM SALTS

The irradiation of triarylsulfonium salts produces Bronsted acid along with diarylsulfide products. This photochemical conversion has been applied in several areas of polymer film technology including imaging and curing of films. This paper discusses the dependency of acid generation in polymer films on the structures of both polymer and sulfonium salt. The results suggest that the efficiency of acid generation is dependent on the interaction between polymer structure and the charged sulfonium salt. Studies have been carried out for both deep-UV and electron beam irradiation of polymer films. The variation of acid generation with sulfonium salt loading has been determined. Finally the effect of accelerating voltage on the amount of acid generation following electron beam irradiation is discussed. ESR spectroscopy has been done on films after uv irradiation to determine the nature of the radicals which are formed.