Terahertz absorption spectroscopy of poly(ether ether ketone)

The crystallinity of sheets of poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) was changed by thermal treatments conducted at 295 °C for various periods and their terahertz (THz) and Fourier-transform infrared absorption (FT-IR) spectra were obtained. As a result, it has been confirmed that an absorption peak appears at around 3.5 THz in the sheet samples that exhibit clear X-ray diffraction patterns at 2Θ = 18.8, 20.8, 22.8, and 28.8°. In contrast, no obvious sample-dependent changes were observed in FT-IR spectra. The absorption at around 3.5 THz shows a shift in frequency to a degree proportional to the crystallinity. Its maximum intensity is also in proportion to the crystallinity. These results indicate that the absorption at 3.62 THz has a close relation with the crystallinity of PEEK. This in turn means that the THz absorption spectroscopy can be used for estimating the crystallinity of PEEK.