title: Detecting Carbon in Carbon: Exploiting Differential Charging to Obtain Information on the Chemical Identity and Spatial Location of Carbon Nanotube Aggregates in Composites by Imaging X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy.
abstract: To better assess risks associated with nano-enabled products including multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) within polymer matrices, it is important to understand how MWCNT are dispersed throughout the composite. The current study presents a method which employs imaging X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to chemically detect spatially segregated MWCNT rich regions at an epoxy composites surface by exploiting differential charging. MWCNT do not charge due to high conductivity and have previously been shown to energetically separate from their insulating surroundings when characterized by XPS. XPS in imaging mode revealed that these conductive regions were spatially separated due to micrometer-scale MWCNT aggregation and poor dispersion during the formation of the composite. Three MWCNT concentrations were studied; (1, 4 and 5) % by mass MWCNT within an epoxy matrix. Images acquired in periodic energy intervals were processed using custom algorithms designed to efficiently extract spectra from regions of interest. As a result, chemical and electrical information on aggregate and non-aggregate portions of the composite was extracted. Raman imaging and scanning electron microscopy were employed as orthogonal techniques for validating this XPS-based methodology. Results demonstrate that XPS imaging of differentially charging MWCNT composite samples is an effective means for assessing dispersion quality.
authors.affiliation: Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.
authors.forename: Justin M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gorham
authors.affiliation: Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Osborn
authors.affiliation: Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.
authors.forename: Jeremiah W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Woodcock
authors.affiliation: Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.
authors.forename: Keana C K
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Heddleston
authors.affiliation: Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.
authors.forename: Angela R Hight
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.
authors.forename: Jeffrey W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Gilman
keywords: Carbon Nanotubes; Differential charging; Hyperspectral imaging; Imaging XPS; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; composites