Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) with either gallium or indium primary beams, has been evaluated as a method to measure the homogeneity of distribution of an antioxidant, Chimassorb 944FD (C944), in linear low-density polyethylene. The parent ion for the oligomer at m/z 599 is sufficiently weak that it could not be used to map the distribution of the additive throughout its most commonly used concentration range (0.1-0.5% (w/w)) in polyethylene. Instead, a mass fragment at m/z 58 was found to be sufficiently clear of interferences that it could be used as a surrogate for the parent ion. As a result, imaging of the antioxidant distribution was possible to concentrations as low as 0.1%, and a linear concentration calibration curve was obtained. The use of an indium primary beam improved the correlation coefficient for the quantitative measurement of C944; moreover, indium reduced the contribution from the polyethylene background at m/z 58 in relation to the total counts acquired.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.