SPECULAR REFLECTANCE - A CONVENIENT TOOL FOR POLYMER CHARACTERIZATIONBY FTIR-MICROSCOPY

Front-surface specular reflectance Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) m easurements at near normal incidence are being increasingly used to st udy both the chemical composition and morphology of 'optically-thick' polymer samples. They provide a convenient, non-contact, non-destructi ve method of characterising, both qualitatively and quantitatively, th e chemical and physical properties of thick polymer samples, or at lea st their surface layers. These measurements are readily made with FTIR -microscope combinations, which facilitate the easy analysis of awkwar dly shaped materials or small samples, and point-by-point mapping acro ss a sample surface. Applications of specular reflectance FTIR-microsc opy to obtaining structural and morphological data on polymeric materi als are illustrated and discussed in this paper. Copyright (C) 1996 El sevier Science Ltd