Lamellar orientation on the surface of a polymer determined by ToF-SIMS and AFM

The fold and lateral surfaces of chain-folded lamellae of poly(bisphenol-A-co-etheroctane), containing both aliphatic CH2 and aromatic segments, were investigated by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). At low and high crystallization temperatures, the surfaces of the polymer films were shown to consist mainly of edge-on and flat-on lamellae, respectively. Surfaces with a mixture of edge-on and flat-on lamellae were produced at intermediate temperatures. The edge-on and flat-on lamellae were identified by using ions that recognize the flexible and rigid segments of the polymer. Ion images produced using selected ions that are related to the edge-on or flat-on orientation can be used to identify the location of these lamellae on the polymer surface. Our results indicate that ToF-SIMS can be used to detect different lamellar orientations at the surfaces of semi-crystalline polymers.