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Ion beam analysis of the effects of radiation on the chemical etching of poly(tetrafluorethylene)

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6050048

Rutherford backscattering (RBS) and elastic recoil detection (ERD) have been used to characterize the effects of x-ray irradiation on the alkali etching of poly(tetrafluorethylene) (PTFE/Teflon). Etching of an irradiated (20 min Mg(K/alpha/) x-rays) sample produces no RBS evidence of F surface loss (/approximately/150 /angstrom/ depth resolution) while x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements (/approximately/30 /angstrom/ sampling depth) show extensive F loss; thus the F loss in irradiated Teflon is limited to depths between 30--150 /angstrom/. In sharp contrast, etching of an unirradiated sample produces an RBS measured F loss to depths of 3000--4000 /angstrom/. Both the etching depth and the extent of defluorination are shown to be self limiting due to the build-up of reaction products in the pore structure resulting from the deep etching. ERD measurements show a similar H depth distribution, suggested to result from a water reaction during the dissolution of excess Na. An n-hexane rinse leaves a surface Na residue on x-ray irradiated material but sub-surface on unirradiated etched material. 6 refs., 6 figs.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-76DP00789
OSTI ID:
6050048
Report Number(s):
SAND-89-0857C; CONF-8906155-3; ON: DE89015889
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English