X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of an ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer

The electronic structure of a clean copolymer of ethylene and tetrafluoroethylene is investigated by measuring the ESCA spectra of the core and valence levels. The chemical composition and alternating (>95%) structure of the copolymer, characterized separately by classical methods, is verified by analyzing the C 1s core-level spectrum. The comparison of the experimental valence band with an original EHCO band-structure calculation, and with similar data for a model of polymer with block structure, shows that the combined methods allow us to distinguish between the two compounds through their valence-band spectra.