Plasma-modified polymer surfaces: Characterization using XPS

This paper presents the utility of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for the characterization of plasma-modified polymer surfaces. Due to the originality of the reactivity of the plasmas (generation of radicals), and to the surface-selective character of the plasma treatments, some specific uses of XPS are emphasized, such as peak fitting, derivatization, angle-resolved XPS. We also show several selected examples of typical XPS analysis of plasma-treated polymers: ageing, biocompatibility, plasma polymerization, adhesion, surface grafting of polar functions.