SURFACE CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYMERS BY PHYSICOCHEMICAL MEASUREMENTS

The possibility of characterizing dispersion forces and acid-base inte ractions by means of physico-chemical measurements is demonstrated by the examples of contact angle and zeta potential measurements, with sp ecial attention being given to the latter. This method has been applie d, to characterize the effect of plasma and flame treatment on the adh esion behaviour of injection moulded poly(propylene) specimens. The re sults with respect to acidic or basic functional surface sites, as obt ained by zeta potential measurements, correlate with the elemental sur face compositions determined by XPS. There is no general interrelation between acidic and basic parameters determined by contact angle measu rements and the results of zeta potential and XPS measurements.