ANALYSIS OF POLYSTYRENE PVME BLENDS BY COINCIDENCE COUNTING TIME-OF-FLIGHT MASS-SPECTROMETRY

MeV/amu Cf-252 fission fragments were used to probe the surface of miscible and phase-separated polymer blend films. A given fission fragment is capable of causing the emission of several secondary ions. Coincidence counting time-of-flight mass spectrometry (CC-TOF-MS) was used to study such codesorption of secondary ions and thus determine their relationships with one another. Using this method, we were able to obtain Information about chemical and spatial relationships between secondary ions. For the case of miscible and phase-separated polystyrene/poly(vinyl methyl ether) blends, characteristic fragmentation patterns and secondary ion yields were obtained. Spatial information such as sub-micrometer chemical heterogeneities were also revealed.