Chemical modification and luminescence measurement of nitrogen-containing polymer surface

Abstract

The luminescence of poly(4-vinylpyridine) was significantly changed with the quaternization of pyridine moiety with alkyl halides at gas/solid interface. The emission band of pyridine around 390 nm disappeared and new band around 520 nm appeared. Using this phenomenon, the reaction progress can be followed with luminescence change. This would be applied to other alkyl halides and other reagents, which can modify the polymer surface, and this would be applicable as a new convenient method of patterning on the nitrogen-containing polymer. The quaternization on polymer surface with alkyl halides was also confirmed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). AFM images showed that the changes in surface morphology were very significant and were in line with the changes in luminescence and XPS peaks.