A model of radiation-induced degradation of the poly(vinylidene fluoride) surface during XPS measurements

Carbon core-level spectra of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) have been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) using a non-monochromatic (Al Kα) source. Surface degradation has been observed during prolonged measurements. Monotonic modification of the C1s-line satellite during dehydrofluorination of PVDF suggests the emergence of additional possibilities for inelastic energy losses, which may be due to the formation of some new peculiarities in the combined density of states (DOS) caused by the change in the hybridisation mode of carbon valence electrons. A simple mathematical model has been proposed to describe the radiation-induced carbonisation of PVDF. The calculated data nicely fit experimental results.