Ascertaining the Carbon Hybridization States of Synthetic Polymers with X-ray Induced Auger Electron Spectroscopy

Abstract

X-ray induced Auger electron spectroscopy was used to evaluate synthetic polymers containing carbons with differing degrees of sp-, sp2-, and sp3-hybridization states as well as heteroatoms. For comparison, a series of related small molecules was also studied. Linear correlations were observed and a universal calibration method for quantifying the average hybridization states of a wide variety of synthetic polymeric materials is offered.