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Analysis of the Spatial Variation of Crosslink Density in Superabsorbent Polymers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

S. G. Urquhart ,
H. W. Ade ,
G. E. Mitchell ,
L. Wilson ,
E. G. Rightor ,
M. Dineen ,
A. P. Hitchcock  and
U. Neuhaeusler
S. G. Urquhart
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC27695-7518
H. W. Ade
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC27695-7518
G. E. Mitchell
Affiliation:
The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI, 48667
L. Wilson
Affiliation:
The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI, 48667
E. G. Rightor
Affiliation:
The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI, 48667
M. Dineen
Affiliation:
The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI, 48667
A. P. Hitchcock
Affiliation:
Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, ONL8S 4M1
U. Neuhaeusler
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, State University of New York - Stoney Brook, 11794 and Forschungseinrichtung Roentgenphysik, Universitaet Goettingen, Goettingen Germany
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Extract

Superabsorbent polymers are often designed with increased density of crosslinking in the outer layer of the particles in order to improve liquid retention under load. For efficient product design, it is desirable to directly measure the spatial variation in crosslink density. Typically employed techniques (such as solvent uptake or measuring the changes in various mechanical properties such as the modulus) do not provide spatially resolved crosslink density information. We have applied Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy to examine the swelling of inhomogenously crosslinked superabsorbent polymers in deionized water and salt water solution.

Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy (STXM) is an effective way to study the chemical and morphological character of polymers on a sub micron spatial scale.1 STXM image contrast is based on core electron excitation by x-ray absorption; an interaction that has remarkable chemical sensitivity. Beam damage is less than in TEM microscopes and samples can be examined in wet and in ambient conditions.

Type
Developments in Measuring Polymer Microstructures
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 4 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis '98, Microscopy Society of America 56th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 32nd Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia July 12-16, 1998 , July 1998 , pp. 816 - 817
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

1.Ade, H. et al., Science 258 (1992) 972CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Rightor, E.G. et al., Journal of Physical Chemistry B., 101 (1997) 1950CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Warwick, T. et al., Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena, 84 (1997) 85CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Zhang, X. et al., Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 347 (1994) 431CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Kirz, J. et al., Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics 28 (1995) 1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. For the maintenance and development of the STXM microscopes, we wish to thank J. Kirz and C. Jacobsen (SUNY Stony Brook), and T. Warwick and B. Tonner (ALS) for the NSLS X-IA STXM and the ALS BL7 STXM, respectively (with support from DoE and NSF). UN is supported by the German Academic Exchange Service.Google Scholar