V. Zaporojtchenko et al., Condensation coefficients of noble metals on polymers: a novel method of determination by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, SURF INT AN, 30(1), 2000, pp. 439-443
We developed a method to determine condensation coefficients, C, of noble m
etals on polymer surfaces and to determine cluster sizes by means of XPS on
ly, or in combination with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), The surf
ace concentration of the adatoms was determined using a mathematical correc
tion of the XPS intensity that takes into account cluster growth of the nob
le metals on the polymer surfaces. We establish our method with experimenta
l results of C for Cu and Ag on pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA)-4,4'-oxydia
niline (ODA) polyimide, bisphenol-a polycarbonate, trimethylcyclohexane bis
phenol-A polycarbonate, polystyrene and Teflon AF 1601, Values of C for Ag
determined with the XPS method agree well with those of radiotracer measure
ments. The condensation coefficient varies by three orders of magnitude fro
m 1 to 0.002, depending on the deposition parameters and properties of the
adsorbents. The method can be applied in general to investigate the deposit
ion of non-wetting metals on solid surfaces. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley
& Sons, Ltd.