Recent developments in high energy and spatial resolution analysis of polymers by XPS

Historically, obtaining useful XPS spectra from polymers has been perceived to be difficult. Problems have included low signal intensities from monochromatic sources, poor spatial resolution, and difficulties with charge compensation. Recent improvements in XPS instrumentation now make it possible to routinely analyze samples which previously would have been considered challenging or impossible. This is particularly true for multi-component polymer samples, which can be difficult to characterize using only large-area spectroscopy. The status of current XPS instrumentation is overviewed, with a variety of examples from polymer analysis. Examples include the use of imaging XPS in the analysis of PVC/PMMA blends, quantification using the valence band region, chemical derivatization of PVMK using hydrazine and trifluorophenylmethyl hydrazine, and high spatial resolution analysis of fiber mats. The importance of high spatial resolution analyses in the evaluation of heterogeneous samples is discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.