Applications of ESCA to polymer chemistry. XVII. Systematic investigation of the core levels of simple homopolymers

Abstract The core levels of a series of 83 homopolymers have been studied by electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). Comparisons of the experimentally determined core‐level binding energies with theoretical calculations using the ground‐state potential model in the complete neglect of differential overlap (CNDO/2) self‐consistent field molecular orbital (SCF MO) formalism have been made on the C 1 s and O 1s core levels for the oxygen‐containing polymers in the series. A comparison of the ground‐state potential model (GPM) and relaxation potential model (RPM) on a series of six model compounds representative on the series of polymers is given. Compilations are given of binding energies of C 1s , O 1s , N 1s , Cl 2 p , S 2 p , Si 2 p , and Br 3 d levels for typical structural features of common occurrence in polymer systems. These data, taken in conjunction with that previously published on fluoropolymers, provide a sound basis for the development of ESCA as a fingerprint tool in the elaboration of features of structure and bonding in polymers in general.