Deposition and stability of metal ions on oxidized silicon surfaces: Electrochemical correlation

XPS is used to determine the chemical state of Au, Hg, Tl, Pb and Bi deposited from their corresponding aqueous solutions on oxidized silicon or gold surfaces. It is determined that Au and Hg, having positive electrochemical reduction potentials, deposit in their 0-valent state, but Tl, Pb and Bi, having small positive or negative electrochemical reduction potentials, deposit in their corresponding ionic states, confirming our previous hypothesis about the electrochemical correlation. Electrochemical deposition of Au from aqueous solutions on to silicon electrodes yields 0-valent Au on both (+) and (-) polarized electrodes, with the only difference that more gold is deposited on the negatively biased one

UV-induced acid-base chemistry within the PVC matrix

PVC films containing methyl violet have been subjected to UV irradiation to induce dehydrochlorination leading to capture of the released HCl by the dye. It is demonstrated that a process similar to the indicator colour change in an aqueous solution can also be induced within the PVC matrix by the action of light. It is also shown that this process can be utilised for lithographic purposes. © 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Platinum-palladium loaded polypyrrole film electrodes for the electrooxidation of D-glucose in neutral media

Modified polymer films with metal particles incorporated into the films by electrodeposition are known as possible electrocatalysts for various electrode reactions such as fuel cell applications. This work presents some results concerning the electrooxidation of D-glucose at modified polymer film electrodes prepared on a platinum substrate. This reaction has a great deal of interest in view of its applications to detection systems (glucose sensor), fuel cells (pacemakers) and electroorganic systhesis. The modified polymer film electrodes contain platinum and/or palladium particles dispersed in the polypyrrole film by electrodeposition in neutral media. Addition of palladium to platinum modifies the electrocatalytic behaviour of the electrode drastically. The modification is thought to involve minimization of the poisoning of the catalyst, hence increasing its electrode activity

Composition of γ-ray induced triethoxyvinylsilane-methyl methacrylate copolymers determined by XPS

Methyl methacrylate (MMA) was copolymerized with triethoxyvinylsilane (TEVS) using 60Co-γ radiation at varying masses of the liquid monomers in the feed. Their homopolymers PMMA and PTEVS were also prepared by the same method. Thin copolymer and homopolymer blend films were prepared by dissolving the polymers in tetrahydrofuran and casting on clean Teflon or glass substrates. Analysis of the surface composition of these films using XPS indicated that the surfaces of the blend films were completely covered by PTEVS after 10% composition by weight. Similar analysis on the copolymer films, however, revealed that the surfaces of the copolymers contain comparable amounts of PMMA and PTEVS in agreement with the bulk analysis using infrared spectrometry. Hence, use of PMMA/PTEVS copolymers for stone preservation seems feasible by radiation induced polymerization. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Surface properties of polyamides modified with reactive polydimethylsiloxane oligomers and copolymers

Surface modification of polyamide-6 (PA-6) was investigated by melt blending with silicone-urea copolymers or organofunctionally terminated polydimethylsiloxane oligomers. Blends were prepared in a laboratory scale high-shear melt mixer. Surface characteristics of the blends were determined by static water contact angle measurements and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Effect of the type, composition, average molecular weight and amount of the silicone additive in the blends, on the surface properties were determined. Influence of the thermal history of the samples on the surface properties was also investigated. All of the blends showed formation of silicone rich surfaces. Surface modification was permanent due to either the formation of chemical bonds between additive and polyamide and/or very strong hydrogen bonding between urea and amide groups. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Variable energy X-ray photoemission studies of alkylsilane based monolayers on gold

Gaseous n-hexylsilane (C6H13SiH3), n-octylsilane (C8H17SiH3), and n-octadecylsilane (C18H37SiH3) have been vapor deposited in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) on freshly evaporated gold surfaces to form monolayers. Surface sensitive X-ray photoemission studies utilizing synchrotron radiation in the 160-360 eV range have been used to characterize these systems. Analyses of the C 1s, Si 2p, and Au 4f and valence band regions permit a structural assessment of the monolayer. The full width at half-maximum of the Si 2p and C 1s core levels, 0.4 and 1.2 or 1.1 eV, respectively, suggest the monolayers are chemically homogeneous. The intensity variation of the Au 4f and Si 2p core levels at different photon energies indicate the surface coverage of the monolayer is ∼96% and the chain orientation is upright on the surface, not parallel to the surface. The valence band of the alkylsilane monolayers exhibit features at ∼-13.2, -14.6, -16.3, -17.6, and -18.9 eV that agree well with those observed for alkyl chains of the same length

XPS and water contact angle measurements on aged and corona-treated PP

Effects of corona treatment and aging on commercially produced corona discharged polypropylene (PP) films were followed via surface sensitive roughness analysis by atomic force microscopy (AFM), water contact angle (WCA), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) measurements. Roughness analysis by AFM gave similar results for both untreated and corona-treated samples. The measured water contact angle decreased after corona treatment but increased with aging. XPS findings revealed that corona treatment caused an increase in the O-containing species on the surface of the films, but the measured O/C atomic ratio decreased with aging. The angle dependence of the observed XPS O/C atomic ratio further revealed that surface modifications by the corona treatment were buried into the polymer away from the surface as a function of aging. This is attributed to a surface rearrangement of the macromolecules in agreement with the findings of Garbassi et al. on oxygen-plasma-treated polypropylene

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic characterization of Au collected with atom trapping on silica for atomic absorption spectrometry

The nature of analyte species collected on a cooled silica tube for atom-trapping atomic absorption spectrometric determination was investigated with the use of X-ray photoelctron spectroscopy (XPS). An XPS spectrum of gold deposited on atom-trapping silica tubes reveals a Au 4f7/2 peak with a binding energy of 84.8 (±0.2) eV, which falls in the middle of the binding energies corresponding to zerovalent Au(0) at 84.0 eV and that of monovalent Au(I) at 85.2 eV. The corresponding energy for Au vapor deposited on silica is also 84.8 eV. Deposition of AuCl4- solution on silica results in two different Au 4f7/2 peaks with binding energies of 84.8 and 87.3 eV corresponding, respectively, to Au(0) and Au(III). Deposition of the same AuCl4- solution on platinum metal again gives two peaks, this time at 84.4 and 87.0 eV energies corresponding again to Au(0) and Au(III). Combining all these data, we conclude that gold is trapped on atom-trapping silica surface as zerovalent Au(0) with a 0.8-eV matrix shift with respect to the metal surface. A similar 0.6-eV shift is also observed between the binding energy of 4f7/2 Hg22+ measured in Hg2(NO3)2·2H2O powder and that deposited on silica

Characterization of denture acrylic resin surfaces modified by glow discharges

Resin samples prepared by compression molding using a poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) denture base material were exposed to radio-frequency (rf) glow discharges to improve the wettability of the material. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) reflectance, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and contact-angle measurements have been employed to characterize the changes introduced by the glow discharge plasma. FT-IR measurements cannot detect any modification. XPS reveals an increase in the O/C atomic ratio. Contact angles of the plasma-treated samples are always lower when compared with untreated ones. The increased O atomic concentration is attributed to formation of -COH groups on the surface during plasma treatment. The O/C atomic ratio decreases upon heating the samples in vacuum to 100 °C for 1-2 min and exposing the samples to liquid CH2Cl2 for 1-2 min. Exposure to distilled water for prolonged periods causes a slight decrease during the initial 1-20 days but levels off to a constant value up to a period of 60 days. Plasma treatment seems to offer a durable increase in the wettability for these materials left in air or distilled water

Formation of alkylsilane-based monolayers on gold

The formation of monolayers of alkylsilanes on a gold surface is characterized by X-ray photoelectron and reflection-absorption infrared spectroscopies. The reaction occurs through the activation of multiple Si-H bonds. Reactivity of the newly synthesized systems to oxygen and water is reported. Copyright © 2002 American Chemical Society