Revisiting degradation in the XPS analysis of polymers

Abstract

A study on the degradation of both halogenated and non-halogenated polymers has been made by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on two different types of common place photoelectron spectrometer. The degradation results herein are compared with the degradation index of Beamson and Briggs, and a notable difference was observed. The effects of neutraliser and spot size on the degradation kinetics are explored and lead to simple recommendations for the successful analysis of damage-susceptible polymers.