Surface analysis of polymers end-capped with metal carboxylates using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is an efficient tool to determine how the metal carboxylate groups of halato-telechelic polymers are distributed in moving from the surface to the bulk of the host polymer. Depending on the nature and structure of both the polymeric matrix and the metal carboxylate end-groups, the surface layer of bulk halato-telechelic polymers can exhibit a continuum of situations going from a high depletion to an enrichment in metal carboxylates compared to the theoretical composition. When an excess of metal atoms is observed in the surface region, these atoms are present at a depth of a few tens of Å below the very surface. Finally, when an excess of Zr or Ti alkoxide is used to neutralize α, ω-dicarboxylic acid polymers, the hydrolysis of the unreacted alkoxide groups do promote the formation of carboxylato metal oxohydroxide aggregates. © 1986.