title: Vacuum thermal degradation of poly(ethylene oxide).
abstract: Thermal degradation of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) was studied under vacuum conditions. PEO macromolecules degrade predominantly by random chain scission of a backbone with elimination of oligomer fragments. The reactions include the mechanism of radical termination by disproportionation. The eliminated fragments form thin film deposits which have chemical composition close to the original PEO. Activation of the evaporated flux with a glow discharge leads to further fragmentation and recombination of the released species and can be used to tune the properties of the resulting thin films.
authors.affiliation: Department of Macromolecular Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, V Holesovickach 2, 18000 Prague 8, Czech Republic. choukourov@kmf.troja.mff.cuni.cz
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Choukourov
authors.forename: Andrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grinevich
authors.forename: Oleksandr
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Polonskyi
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hanus
authors.forename: Jaroslav
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kousal
authors.forename: Danka
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Slavinska
authors.forename: Hynek
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Biederman
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D004867:Equipment Design; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000737:chemistry; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D008422:Materials Testing; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008970:Molecular Weight; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature; D014618:Vacuum; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D014867:Water; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D002244:Carbon; D006859:Hydrogen