Quantification of organic additives on polymer surfaces by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry with gold deposition.

• TOF-SIMS with gold deposition was proposed as a novel method for quantification. • This method makes it possible to compare the amount of organic additives among different matrix polymers. • This method has a potentiality for the quantification independent of matrices. • Its application to not only additives on polymers but also to other fields such as adhesion or tribology can be realized. A novel method for the quantification of organic additives on polymer surfaces was investigated using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) with gold deposition. Pentaerythritol tetrakis (3- (3,5-di- tert -butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) propionate and tris (2,4-di- tert -butylphenyl) phosphite were used as typical organic additives, and polystyrene (PS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were used as typical polymers for this investigation. Gold deposition on polymer film surfaces containing various concentrations of additives made TOF-SIMS analysis possible for quantitative evaluation of the additives from negative ion mass spectra among the different matrices. This method is expected to be expanded to the absolute quantification of organic materials on polymer surfaces, not only with respect to additives on polymers but also for other fields such as adhesion or tribology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]