OXYGEN ENRICHMENT ON POLYMER SURFACES MEASURED BY HEAVY-ION ELASTIC RECOIL DETECTION

Using Cl-35 elastic recoil detection (ERD) analysis, oxygen enrichment was found on the surfaces of polystyrene and a random copolymer of st yrene and acrylonitrile containing 38.7 wt% acrylonitrile. The samples were prepared in a hot press at 200-degrees-C between two silicon waf ers in an air environment. The oxygen-rich layer on top of the samples was less than 20 nm thick. Heavy ion ERD seems to be a promising meth od to study the chemical composition of polymer surfaces and concentra tion profiles up to a depth of several hundred nanometres.