Electron spin resonance studies of plasma-induced polystyrene radicals

Abstract

Plasma-induced polystyrene radicals were first studied by electron spin resonance (ESR). The room temperature ESR spectrum was compared with those obtained by γ-irradiation, UV-irradiation, and mechanical fracture. It was found that even less than a few seconds of plasma-irradiation gave rise to a large amount of polystyrene radicals and the ESR spectrum consisted of two types of spectra, a triplet and a single broad line. The spectral feature of the triplet was nearly identical with that of γ-irradiated polystyrene. Thus, it was assigned to the structure of a cyclohexadienyl-type radical formed by a nearly random addition of a hydrogen atom to the aromatic ring. The single broad line, thought to be an outline of multicomponent spectrum, was assigned to an immobilized dangling-bond sites at the plasma-induced crosslinked portion of the polystyrene surface.