PROBING POLYMER STRUCTURES BY PHOTOACOUSTIC FOURIER-TRANSFORM INFRARED-SPECTROSCOPY

This chapter presents recent developments as well as the theory of photoacoustic Fourier transform infrared (PA FTIR) spectroscopy. New techniques such as temperature photacoustic and rheophoto-acoustic (RPA) FTIR measurements and their applications to the surface analysis of fibers and cross-linking reactions of amorphous networks are discussed. In situ photoacoustic FTIR detection of cross-linking reactions permits monitoring such transitions as gelation and vitrification of the network as a function of temperature, and rheophotoacoustic FTIR spectroscopy allows one to relate the molecular deformations with external forces applied to a polymer.