Surface spectroscopic studies of Biomer.

The objective of this work was to determine whether there is a significant difference in composition between the air facing and mold facing sides of Biomer and to see if the mold itself affects the polymer surface. A detailed analysis of Biomer was undertaken using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ESCA), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), and low energy ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS). Previous workers have used FTIR and ESCA to study Biomer and comparisons with their results will be discussed. Because of the increase in surface sensitivity SIMS and ISS can be valuable tools for studying polymeric materials. SIMS has been used to identify the structure of the Biomer air and mold facing surfaces from both glass and nickel molds. ESCA and ISS have indicated the presence of a silicon contaminant on the air and mold facing surfaces and SIMS has shown that the form of the silicon contaminant is probably a polysiloxane.