Surface Analysis of Polymers by XPS and Static SIMS

It is interesting to note that when this monograph was first contemplated, I had two relevant titles from the Cambridge Solid Science Series on my bookshelves: Polymer Surfaces by Cherry (now out of print) and Modern Techniques of Surface Science by Woodruff and Delchar. The former does not discuss surface analysis techniques whilst the latter does not mention application to polymers!

The behaviour of polymer surfaces is important in many technologies and understanding this behaviour requires surface characterisation with a high degree of chemical specificity, in terms of composition and structure, for species covering a wide range of molecular weight. The application of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS or ESCA) and, later, static secondary ion mass spectrometry (SSIMS), in the early stages of the development of the techniques, to polymer surface analysis surely count as major successes. The requirements for polymer surface analysis have continued to be important drivers in the evolution of instrumental capabilities, because of the importance of this materials sector.

There is evidence that the polymer surface analysis field is now consolidating, following a period of major developments in instrumentation, spectroscopic performance and spectral interpretation. Spectral databases have been published, application oriented papers outweigh fundamental papers in the literature and instrument performance appears to have reached a plateau. The relative strengths of XPS and SSIMS are widely appreciated and there are many available reviews which cover, in more or less detail, the application of either technique, separately. It is clear, however, that most polymer surface studies benefit from the combined use of XPS and SSIMS, particularly now that time-of-flight (ToF)SIMS instruments are becoming more widely available. This seems an appropriate time, therefore, to attempt to treat the subject of polymer surface analysis using modern surface science techniques.