Impact ionisation spectra from hypervelocity impacts using aliphatic poly(methyl methacrylate) microparticle projectiles

We report impact ionisation spectra from spherical poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microparticles of 724?nm diameter impacting a rhodium target. These projectiles were coated with an ultrathin (?11?nm) overlayer of polypyrrole, an electrically conducting organic polymer; this enabled the accumulation of sufficient surface charge to allow electrostatic acceleration up to speeds of 4 to 8?km?s?1 using a high-voltage Van de Graaff instrument. A grid above the target (held at 3.33?kV?cm?1 with respect to the target) accelerated the cations that were generated during the hypervelocity impacts, and these ions then drifted to a charge detector. By measuring the collected charge vs. time and assuming only single ionisation events, time-of-flight mass spectra were obtained. Strong signals were observed for cationic species with ions of m/z 41, 65 and 115. There were also minor contributions from cations with masses ranging from m/z 29 to 142. The three major signals are assigned to fragment ions (C3Hmath image, C4H5O+/C5Hmath image and C6H11Omath image) which are known to be associated with the decomposition of PMMA. These impact ionisation spectra differ significantly from those reported earlier using polystyrene (PS) microparticles. The aliphatic PMMA microparticles generate small (m/z <100) fragment ions more readily at lower speeds than the predominantly aromatic PS microparticles, where speeds of at least 10?km?s?1 are typically required for substantial yields of low-mass fragment ions. This correlates well with the well-known greater chemical and thermal fragility of PMMA compared to PS. The PMMA microparticles should prove useful synthetic mimics for aliphatic carbonaceous micrometeorites.