Quantitative Surface Analysis by Fourier Transform Attenuated Total Reflection Infrared Spectroscopy

Abstract

The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic ATR (FT-IR-ATR) method has been applied to quantitative determination of chemical composition of thin surface layers. The powerful capability of the FT-IR-ATR spectral subtraction method was proved to determine poly(dimethylsiloxane) content in the surface layer of Cardiothane 51, which consists of poly(urethane) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) as a minor component, showing the detection limit of 0.2% of the content. An absorbance ratio of a selected band of poly(dimethylsiloxane) relative to a selected band of poly(urethane) was determined by FT-IR-ATR measurements on the pure samples of each of the constituting components that have the same area contacted onto the internal reflection element of Ge. Consideration was also given to the thickness of the surface layer that can be analyzed by the present method, and one half of the penetration depth dp was considered to better represent the thickness of the surface layer measured than dp.