Ascertaining The Carbon Hybridization States Of Synthetic Polymers With X-Ray Induced Auger Electron Spectroscopy

X-ray induced Auger electron spectroscopy was used to evaluate synthetic polymers containing carbons with differing degrees of sp-, sp(2)-, and sp(3)-hybridization states as well as heteroatoms. For comparison, a series of related small molecules was also studied. Linear correlations were observed and a universal calibration method for quantifying the average hybridization states of a wide variety of synthetic polymeric materials is offered.