Analysis of diffusion in polymers by forward recoil spectrometry

Abstract

We demonstrate that an ion beam analysis method that detects the energies of forward recoiling deuterons can be used to measure concentration profiles and tracer diffusion coefficients D* of a deuterated polymer (d-polystyrene) diffusing into its hydrogenated analog. The D*’s decrease as M−2 as predicted by the reptation theory of polymer diffusion and agree in magnitude with both the theory and marker displacement measurements of D* in the same system.