XPS and static SIMS studies of copoly(ether–esters) containing mixed polyether soft blocks

Abstract

The surface compositions for a series of copoly(ether-esters) are determined from XPS and static SIMS measurements. The copolymers consist of a polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) hard block and a mixed soft block of two of the following polyethers-poly(propy1ene glycol) (PPG), poly(tetramethy1ene oxide (PTMO) and poly(ethy1ene oxide) (PEO). The surfaces of all the copolymers are enriched in the total polyether soft blocks. Quantification of XPS intensities shows the presence of both polyethers at the surface of these mixed soft-block copolymers, in relative amounts close to the bulk formulations. In the static SIMS measurements, direct observation of characteristic fragment ions related to the specific polyethers confirms their presence and relative abundance in the surface.

Static secondary ion mass spectrometry (S-SIMS) Part 1: methodology and structural interpretation

“…Also complicated copolymer systems are amenable. Burrell et al (1994) investigated multiblock poly(ester-bether)s with poly(butylene terephtalate and poly(hexamethylene terephtalate) hard segments and a mixture of PEG, PPG and tetramethylene oxide as soft segments. In more complex samples, S-SIMS provides a distinct advantage over XPS since the latter method requires that all the components of the system and their spectra are known in advance.…”

Surface orientation of hydrophilic groups in sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membranes

“…He suggested that the differences in the surface free energy of various components within a polymer membrane may dominate the overall surface morphology, whereby the lower surface energy segment resided near the polymer-air interface [16,17,[48][49][50].…”

“…In some polymer systems, the composition of the membrane surface differs, sometimes dramatically, from the composition within the bulk, resulting in a material with distinct surface properties, such as wettability and adhesion. Differences of the surface free energy of the components within a polymer may explain the overall surface morphology in which the lower surface energy component of polymer preferentially aggregates towards the polymer-air interface [16,17].…”

Synthesis and Nonisothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Poly(Butylene Terephthalate-co-Tetramethylene Ether Glycol) Copolyesters

“…PBT-based TPEE has been developed, such as poly(butylene terephthalate- co -polyethylene glycol) (PBT- co -PEG) [ 16 , 31 ] and poly(butylene terephthalate- co -polypropylene glycol) (PBT- co -PPG) [ 32 ], revealing varied characteristics depending on different compositions. Poly(butylene terephthalate- co -tetramethylene ether glycol) (PBT- co -PTMEG) copolymer was first commercialized under the trademark “Hytrel” (Du pont, Wilmington, DE, United States) as engineering plastics in 1972 [ 33 , 34 , 35 ], and the morphology [ 17 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ], properties [ 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ], interactions between hard segments and soft segments [ 50 , 51 ], and structure of the crystalline [ 36 , 38 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 ] and amorphous phase [ 5 , 17 , 49 , 59 ] have been studied extensively. The crystalline regions of PBT- co -PTMEG copolymers are continuous and highly interconnected, dispersing in a continuous amorphous region [ 52 , 60 ].…”