The differential adsorption of silanes from solution onto model E-glass surfaces using high resolution XPS

γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APS), γ-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS) and their mixture have been adsorbed onto acid-treated model E-glass fibres from aqueous solution with different concentrations. High resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been employed to characterize APS and MPS single silane coatings and the selective adsorption of APS/MPS mixed silane coating. It is found that the Si contribution from the silane can be distinguished from the Si contribution from the acid-treated E-glass fibres by fitting Si2p1/2 and Si2p3/2 peaks with components for CSiO3 and SiO4 environments. The adsorption isotherms of APS and MPS have been obtained by comparing the atomic concentrations of N, S and CSiO3 groups. APS and MPS are equally adsorbed from 0.1% APS/MPS mixed silane solution, however, MPS dominates the deposit on model E-glass fibres to a depth corresponding to the take-off-angle of 45º when it is adsorbed from 0.5% and 1.0% APS/MPS mixed silane solutions.