CELLULOSE NITRATE AS A BINDING-ENERGY REFERENCE IN N(1S) XPS STUDIES OF NITROGEN-CONTAINING ORGANIC-MOLECULES

Cellulose nitrate is evaluated for use as a N(1s) binding energy reference standard in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of nitrogen-containing organic materials. Cellulose nitrate possess a number of attractive attributes for this purpose of which the most significant is the high N(1s) binding energy, 408.1 eV, for the nitrate ester functionality. Data is presented establishing the N(1s) binding energy for the nitrate ester based upon Au(4f 7 2) at 84.0 eV. Nitrogen (1s) spectra are presented for p-nitrobenzonitrile, cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine (HMX), and urea mixed with cellulose nitrate. Tabulated binding energy values for 16 nitrogen-containing organic functionalities determined relative to the nitrate ester N(1s) peak are also presented. © 1990.