This project is in the general area of analytical and surfacechemistry and in the subfields of mass spectrometry and materialschemistry. This grant provides funds with which Dr. Hercules willacquire a new time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometer(TOF-SIMS) which will enable the high resolution characterizationof polymeric materials, especially their surfaces and near.surface regions. This project is expected to provide new rapidand precise methods of polymer analysis. This new TOF-SIMS spectrometer will be the first of its kind inthe United States. With an expected resolution of approximately 13,000 and a mass range of up to 20,000 amu, this instrument will enable rapid determination of molecular weight distributions and the determination of the surface composition of polymers. This new spectrometer can be expected to heighten the impact of the principal investigator's related research activities that are currently supported under NSF grant CHE-8411835.
