Elemental and molecular characterization of aged polydimethylsiloxane foams

The application and integration of micro X-ray fluorescence (MXRF) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) imaging to polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) foam aging issues have been applied to cross-sectional images. Previous work has shown the tin in the stannous 2-ethylhexanoate catalyst to be highly mobile and it typically migrates to the PDMS foam upper surface. The current paper discusses a method for the integration of full spectral MXRF and FT-IR imaging of aged foams. Solvent extractions have also been performed on both fresh and aged foams to further examine aged foam properties. Combining elemental and molecular imaging techniques and applying them to PDMS aging provides synergistic information that aids in understanding the sample composition and distribution of components. Application of chemometric analysis to the full spectral elemental and molecular maps demonstrates correlations within the foams of the residual tin, organo-tin functional group moieties, and the presence of nitroplasticizer from an exogenous source.