Abstract

The ESCA (electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis) spectra of films of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), tetrafluoroethylene-ethylene copolymer (TFE/ET) and polyethylene (PE) exposed to atomic oxygen (O( 3P)), in or out of the glow of a radio-frequency O 2 plasma, were compared. ESCA spectra of PE films exposed to O( 3P) in low Earth orbit (LEO) on the STS-8 Space Shuttle were also examined. Apart from O( 3P)-induced surface recession (etching), the various polymer films exhibited surface oxidation, which proceeded towards equilibrium saturation oxygen levels. The maximum surface oxygen uptakes for in-glow or out-of-glow exposures were in the order: PE > TFE ET > PVDF ; for PE itself, the oxygen uptakes were in the order: in glow > out of glow > LEO. Given prior ESCA data on poly(vinyl fluoride) and polytetrafluoroethylene films exposed to O( 3P), the extent of surface oxidation is seen to decrease regularly with increase in fluorine substitution in a family of ethylene-type polymers.

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