Inter‐diffusion between PMMA and PVDF during lamination studied by time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry chemical imaging

Abstract

A laminate was prepared by laminating a poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) disc and a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) disc using compression moulding. Both PVDF and PMMA are miscible polymers. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) chemical images were used to investigate inter-diffusion between the PVDF and PMMA during lamination at 200• C and 16 MPa. Negative ToF- SIMS chemical images clearly revealed the presence of inter-diffusion between the PVDF and PMMA.Both the lamination time and the PMMA molecular weight could significantly influence the inter-diffusion distance. As the lamination time increased, the inter-diffusion distance increased significantly. In addition, as the PMMA molecular weight decreased, the inter-diffusion distances also increased markedly due to the decrease in viscosity of the PMMA.

Rheological Modeling of the Mutual Diffusion and the Interphase Development for an Asymmetrical Bilayer Based on PMMA and PVDF Model Compatible Polymers

“…The interphase thickness between PMMA (M w = 1.075 × 10 5 g/mol) and PVDF (M w = 1.45 × 10 5 g/mol) given by Kim and Han 75 was also several tens of micrometers after 600 s diffusion during coextrusion at 230 °C. Feng et al 78 experimentally determined the interdiffusion distance of a PMMA/PVDF bilayer by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry chemical imaging (ToF-SIMS), and the interdiffusion distance was greater than 30 μm at 200 °C after 1 h. In fact, their interdiffusion distance was defined as the distance between the points at 20% and 80% of the plateau of the ion concentration profile, so the exact width of interphase defined from the migrating front on one side to that on the other side should be much greater than reported. Besides, a much earlier work 16c concerning using X-ray microanalysis as we did in the present study reported an approximate interphase thickness of 20 μm for a PMMA/PVDF sandwich laminate containing 76% PVDF as compression molded at 190 °C and 250 psi for 50 min.…”

Surface Characterization of Polymer Blends by XPS and ToF-SIMS

“…This review provides a brief introduction to the principles of XPS and ToF-SIMS and their application to the study of the surfaces and interfaces of polymer blends which represent some of our work in the last 20 years [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ].…”

Helium Ion Microscopy with Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry for Nanoscale Chemical Imaging and Analysis of Polyolefins

“…Many of these multicomponent/multiphase systems have interfaces between chemically distinct phases that need to be probed structurally and chemically at the relevant length scales to develop strategies for enhancement and eventual deconstruction of the interfaces. Currently, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) that offers excellent surface sensitivity, high mass resolution, and breadth of mass and fragment detection is the primary tool for chemical visualization of polymeric interfaces. − As such, research has primarily been focused on characterization of copolymers and polymer blends using ToF-SIMS. − ToF-SIMS has been used to investigate surface chemistry, interfaces, and microscopic phases and to quantitatively map surface-specific polymers in blends including styrene-methyl methacrylate random copolymers, ethylene–propylene–diene terpolymers, and polypropylene/ethylene–propylene copolymer blends − as well as to determine the molecular weight for a variety of polymers including PE, PP, and polystyrene (PS) …”