FTIR-RAS STUDIES OF THE COORDINATION OF SURFACE OXIDE LAYERS OF COPPER WITH POLY(ACRYLONITRILE)

The effect of surface oxide layers on the coordination of polyacryloni trile (PAN) to copper has been investigated by infrared reflection-abs orption spectroscopy. It has been found that side-on coordination can be formed for PAN on copper surface preoxidized at 200 degrees C for 3 0 min. On the other hand, no coordination is observed for PAN adsorbed on freshly cleaned copper which had been heated at 200 degrees C for 90 min in vacuum. However, the side-on coordination is also found on t he freshly cleaned copper after an additional heating at 180 degrees C for 90 min in air. We proposed that these results are likely due to t he variation in chemical reactivity of copper in different oxidation s tates. It has also been found that the side-on coordination of copper to C = N groups can facilitates the cyclization of PAN at lower temper atures.