Radiation-induced crosslinking: II. Effect on the crystalline and amorphous densities of polyethylene

Small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) was used to determine the structural changes in polyethylene induced by radiation. The changes in densities of the crystalline and amorphous phases, _c and _a , were calculated after direct determination of the mean square density fluctuation <²>. _a increases with increasing radiation dose for both linear and branched polyethylene. This accounts for the serious discrepancy between crystallinities determined from wide-angle x-ray scattering and density measurements. This study confirms our previous proposal that crosslinks occur primarily in the noncrystalline phase, most likely at the defects in the lateral grain boundary regions.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. W. Pechhold on the occasion of his 60th birthday.     

Stress-induced crystallization of poly(ethylene terephthalate)

Quenched amorphous films of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) are stretched at temperatures less than T_g; changes in density, wide-angle x-ray diffraction, and small-angle light scattering are observed. The density increase upon stretching is attributed to an increase in crystallinity accompanied by an increase in the intensity of somewhat diffuse wide-angle x-ray diffraction and of both V_V and H_V small-angle light scattering patterns. The formation of oriented rodlike superstructure may be discerned from small-angle light scattering. Annealing of these samples increases the crystallinity as measured from density and leads to an increase in the perfection of crystalline and supercrystalline structure as measured by wide-angle x-ray diffraction and small-angle light scattering. The rodlike morphology changes to form spherulitelike aggregates as observed by small-angle light scattering and light micrographs. A model is proposed to explain the observations. Studies are extended to stretching films of PET above their T_g and observing changes in birefringence, density, wide-angle x-ray diffraction and small-angle light scattering as a function of elongation and stretching temperature. The formation of defomed spherulitelike superstructure may be discèrned from light micrographs. Results are compared with those obtained upon stretching films below T_g.     

Small-angle x-ray scattering experiments for investigating the validity of the two-phase model

A New method for evaluating SAXS curves of polymer samples with lamellar structure is applied to two typical scattering curves measured with a solution-crystallized linear polyethylene and a melt-crystallized branched polyethylene respectively. The method permits a rigorous check of the validity of the two-phase model and yields, without additional measurement, the volume fractions of the two phases and the difference in their densities. The densities can than be obtained by measuring the overall density of the sample. The results are: ρ_c = 0.996 g/cm³,ρ_a = 0.854 g/cm³, w_a = 0.20 for the solution-crystallized sample; ρ_c = 0.967 g/cm³,ρ_a = 0.850 g/cm³, w_a = 0.36 for the melt-crystallized sample.     

An x-ray diffraction study of nonlinear polyethylene. I. Room-temperature observations

In this investigation on samples of high- and low-density polyethylene and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers, crystallinities ?_W and crystalline densities ρ_cW were obtained with the aid of wide-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS) methods. From small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) the following characteristics were obtained either directly or by combination with the WAXS data: values, or limiting values, of the crystallinity ?_S; crystal densities ρ_cS; thicknesses of the diffuse boundary layer; number-average thicknesses of the crystalline and amorphous layers; and both number and weight averages of the long periods. It was shown that a discrepancy between ?_S and ?_W cannot be attributed to the occurrence of large amorphous regions outside the regular stacks of lamellae; the data were reconciled by assuming that the WAXS crystallinities pertain to the cores of the crystalline lamellae, whereas part of the diffuse boundary layers is comprised in the values of ?_S. The ρ_cW and ρ_cS data of the nonlinear samples show systematic differences, which were attributed to partial incorporation of side groups in the crystalline regions at a concentration estimated to be of the order of 20–40% of the overall concentration. With increasing side-group concentration, the thickness of the core of the crystalline lamellae was found to approach the average length of the linear chain segments between side groups. On the basis of these observations a scheme for the crystallization of nonlinear polyethylene is proposed according to which a number of side groups is encapsulated by the growing crystal. The data can be explained by assuming that all chains, offered at a crystal face where growth takes place, crystallize directly, irrespective of whether the crystallizing stem carries a side group. Further crystallization would then proceed by chain folding at both ends of the first stem, until a noncrystallizable unit is met. In this scheme, allowance is made for about half the stems in the crystals to be connected by folds; this is required in view of the “overcrowding” effect. Finally, the effect of cooling rate and molecular weight on the thicknesses of the crystalline and amorphous layers is discussed, and differences between the amorphous densities of high-and low-density polyethylene are noted.     

Radiation-induced crosslinking: III. Effect on the crystalline and amorphous density fluctuations of polyethylene

Small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) was used to determine density fluctuation in radiation-induced crosslinked polyethylene of varying degrees of crystallinity. Density fluctuation FL decreases with increasing crystallinity, while it increases linearly with increasing radiation dose or degree of crosslinking. By means of extrapolation, density fluctuations in the crystalline and the amorphous phasesFL _c andFL _a were obtained. At a given dose,FL _a is greater thanFL _c . The increase inFL _a with radiation is found to be much greater than that ofFL _c compared with the initial values at 0 Mrad,FL _c showing only a negligible increase event at 312 Mrad. The present findings suggest that crosslinks are not introduced within the crystalline phase; they take place primarily in the noncrystalline phase, in agreement with the conclusions reached previously on the basis of changes in crystalline and amorphous densities in irradiated polyethylene.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. W. Pechhold on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Melt spinning of thermotropic liquid-crystal polyesters to form ultrahigh-modulus filaments

The properties and structure of ultrahigh-modulus filaments were investigated for wholly aromatic copolyesters (WACPs) containing 60 and 70 mol% p-oxybenzoate, based on p-hydroxybenzoic acid, p,p′-biphenol, terephthalic acid, and isophthalic acid and for poly(ethylene terephthalate co-p-oxybenzoate) containing 60 mol% p-oxybenzoate. As-spun filaments with varying degrees of molecular orientation were spun from melts by taking the spin-extension ratio as a variable at given temperatures. The as-spun filaments were further subjected to thermal annealing. Changes in the structural ordering with the extension ratio were monitored by wide-angle x-ray scattering, scanning electron microscopy, viscoelastic properties, and measurements of the thermal expansion coefficient. The increase in modulus is correlated well with the crystallite orientation at a relatively low extension ratio. However, for extension ratios above 10, the modulus of as-spun filaments is almost independent of the crystallite orientation. Modulus values as high as 100 GPa are obtained for WACP filaments spun at extension ratios above 500. It is suggested that ultrahigh-modulus values can be reached in highly oriented noncrystalline chains. Furthermore, the results for annealed filaments indicated that the relaxation of molecular orientation occurs partially in the oriented noncrystalline regions during the stage of long-time annealing above T_g, leading to depression of the modulus.     

Investigations of a series of PPDI-based polyurethane block copolymers. I. General morphology

The morphology of a series of segmented polyurethane block copolymers is characterized by x-ray scattering, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), density measurements, and tensile studies. The materials contain hard segments formed from paraphenylene diisocyanate (PPDI) and flexible segments formed from poly(oxytetramethylene) (POTM) ranging in molecular weight from 650 to 2000. Four different molecular weight compositions were investigated, with the weight fraction of the hard segment (w_h) ranging from 0.14 to 0.33. The microphase structure has been examined using small-angle x-ray scattering, and the microphase transition zone thickness is estimated to be on the order of 1 nm. Oriented samples have been characterized with wide-angle x-ray scattering, and the flexible segment is shown to undergo stress-induced crystallization. DSC thermograms show flexible segment melting in the compositions containing the highest two molecular weights of the flexible segments. The hard segment thermal transitions were complex with a broad melting peak that varied with weight fraction and with a high temperature transition attributed to regions with hard segment lengths longer than the bulk of the hard segment component. There is an increase in tensile strength and initial modulus and decrease in elongation with increasing w_h. Density data suggest the existence of a multiphase system.     

Quantitative characterization of deformation in drawn polypropylene films

The submicroscopic morphology of uniaxially deformed isotactic polypropylene films has been examined by small-angle light scattering (SALS), electron microscopy, optical microscopy, small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), wide-angle x-ray diffraction, birefringence, sonic modulus, and density methods. Several new interpretations and extensions of existing theories are developed and verified experimentally as follows. (1) The V_v SALS pattern is shown to be a new tool for the identification of the sign of the birefringence of spherulites too small to be seen in the optical microscope. The theoretical dependence of the V_v SALS pattern is developed and verified experimentally with patterns from isotactic polypropylene, polyethylene, Penton, nylon 6,6, poly(ethylene terephthalate), and nylon 6,10. (2) Intraspherulitic lamellar behavior during deformation can be identified from the SAXS pattern. This includes quantitative evaluation of the long spacing between lamellae and their average orientation. (3) The two-phase sonic modulus theory is valid over the wide range of deformations, crystallinities, processing temperatures, and molecular weights used in this study. The deformation of isotactic polypropylene films drawn at 110 and 135°C. has been characterized quantitatively in terms of an integrated picture of mass movement on all morphological levels: the molecular, the interlamellar, and the spherulitic. At both temperatures, the spherulites deform affinely with extension, whereas the deformation mechanisms within the spherulite depend on the location of the radii with respect to the applied load. During spherulite deformation, lamellar orientation and separation processes predominate, whereas at high extensions, fibrillation occurs and crystal cleavage processes predominate. The noncrystalline region orients throughout the draw region. At 135°C. non-orienting relaxation processes appear in the noncrystalline region which retard the rate of molecular orientation with extension.     

Analysis of small-angle X-ray scattering from fibers: Structural changes in nylon 6 upon drawing and annealing

The changes in the fibrillar and the lamellar structure in nylon 6 fibers resulting from drawing and annealing were studied by a detailed analysis of their two-dimensional small-angle scattering patterns. The scattering object that gives to rise the diffuse equatorial scattering in the angular range of Q = 0.02 to 0.3 Å⁻¹ is assumed to be a fibril. There are two distinct regimes in the equatorial diffuse scattering. The scattering at Q < 0.1 Å⁻¹ is dominated by scattering due to the longitudinal dimension of the fibril, and that at Q > 0.1 Å⁻¹ to the lateral dimensions/organization of the fibril. The interfibrillar regions, unlike the interlamellar regions that are essentially made of amorphous chain segments, may have microvoids in addition to amorphous chain segments. The intensity distribution within the lamellar reflections was used to obtain the lamellar spacings and the dimension of the lamellar stacks. The length of the fibrils is between 1000 and 3000 Å, the higher values being more prevalent at lower draw ratios. The fibril length is larger than the length of the lamellar stack, and approaches the latter at higher draw ratios. Annealing does not change the lengths of the fibrils, but the length of the lamellar stack increases. The fibrils form crystalline aggregates with a coherence length of ∼200 Å at higher draw ratios. The diameter of the fibrils (50–100 Å) determined from the lamellar reflection using both the Scherrer equation and the Guinier law are consistent with the lateral size of the crystallites derived from wide-angle x-ray diffraction. The longitudinal correlation of the lamellae between the neighboring fibrils improves upon drawing and decreases upon annealing. The degree of fibrillar and lamellar orientation is about the same as the crystalline orientation. Lamellar spacing increases upon drawing (from ∼60 to 95 Å) and annealing (from ∼85 to 100 Å). This is accompanied by an increase in the width of the amorphous domains from 30 to 50 Å in drawn fibers, and from 45 to 55 Å in annealed fibers. The diameter of the fibrils decreases slightly upon drawing and increases considerably upon annealing. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Real-time X-ray scattering study of thermal expansion of poly(butylene terephthalate)

Real-time x-ray scattering at elevated temperatures has been used to investigate the thermal expansion characteristics of poly(butylene terephthalate), PBT. Changes in the six lattice parameters of the α-form of PBT were obtained from wide-angle x-ray scattering over the temperature range from 35 to 215°C. The linear thermal expansion coefficients relating the unit cell parameters at temperature T to their values at 0°C are found to be The temperature dependence of both the long period and the lamellar thickness of semicrystalline PBT were determined from real-time small-angle x-ray scattering analysis of the one-dimensional electron density correlation function. The long period, lamellar thickness, and degree of crystallinity increase as the temperature increases. We find an average linear thermal expansion coefficient of the bulk material to be α_ave = 5.0 × 10⁻⁴°C⁻¹. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Axial X-ray scattering on high-performance polymeric fibers

High-temperature polymers were spum from liquid-crystalline solutions into fibers of superior thermal stability and mechanical properties. Fibers of two extended-chain polymers poly(p-phenyleneterephthalamide), PPTA, and poly-2,5-benzoxazole, ABPBO, as well as a rod-like polymer poly(p-phenylenebenzobisoxazole), PBO, were examined by axial x-ray scattering. Both wide-angle scattering and small-angle scattering were performed with CuKα radiation aiming along the fiber axis (c-axis) for structural information on the a-b lattice plane. In addition to previously reported lattice structure, the PPTA fibers (Kevlar® 29, 49, and 149) showed strong [004] and a [022] reflections suggesting that segments of the PPTA molecules were transverse to the fiber axis. This unique fiber structure is more prominent and the void content is less for the PPTA fibers with higher tensile modulus, (i.e., Kevlar® 149 > Kevlar® 49 > Kevlar® 29). Similar measurements on thermally annealed ABPBO and PBO fibers showed no [00l], [h0l], or [0kl] reflection indicative of a truly uniaxial molecular orientation. Evidence of microfibrillar order was discovered for the Kevlar® fibers and the ABPBO fiber. Results of conventional x-ray scattering on these fibers were compared and reconciled. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Microstructure rearrangement during the heat-treatment of melt-drawn poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers

Melt-spun poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers were isothermally heat-treated at constant length. Microstructural changes occurring during the heat-treatment were monitored using specific gravity, wide-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS), small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), optical birefringence, and static mechanical testing. Major changes in the density of the most highly oriented fiber examined occurred in times below 100 ms. For less oriented fibers, the time scale for significant density change increases to the 1–10 s range. The course of birefringence increase approximates that of the density. WAXS measurements show that crystallinity develops at essentially constant crystal perfection, but that the orientation of the crystallites first decreases and then increases with time. SAXS results show development of a four-point pattern, the azimuthal angle of the lobes decreasing with initial orientation, with temperature, and with time. A streak transverse to the fiber axis develops more rapidly than do the lobes. A two-stage transformation process is envisaged, the first stage being the formation of defective crystal fibrils and the second being internal rearrangement of the fibrils to form more perfect crystallites, separated by more amorphous zones. Changes in the crystallite orientation are related to constraints of the noncrystalline material on the crystallites.     

Selective degradation of nylon 6,6. I. Description of the degradation technique and preliminary morphological characterization

A technique for the selective degradation of amorphous regions in nylon 6,6 is reported. Samples of unoriented film and single-crystal mats have been subjected to selective degradation by refluxing in hydrazine. Weight loss, viscosity-average molecular weight, density, and small-angle x-ray scattering of these samples were monitored as a function of time of degradation. In addition, selected samples have been investigated by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and transmission electron microscopy. Based on the results of these investigations it is concluded that the reported degradation technique is unique in that the debris is not monodisperse in molecular weight distribution. The Weight loss, density, small-angle x-ray scattering, and microscopy data demonstrate that the unordered or noncrystalline regions of the material are removed upon treatement. However, the relatively high molecular weight and broad molecular weight distribution of the debris indicate that regular folds at lamellar surfaces are intact after degradation treatment.     

NMR observations of drawn polymers. V. Sorption into drawn and undrawn polyethylene

NMR measurements on undrawn polyethylene (PE) samples in contact with a solvent such as C₂Cl₄ indicate an increase in the mobility of the mobile chain segments as compared to dry samples. Highly drawn PE shows no such effect. This is because S_a, the sorption per unit mass of noncrystalline material present, decreases from 20.9 wt.-% (dry basis), found for undrawn quenched PE, to 0.63 wt.-% after drawing (S_a determined at 25°C. and 0.80 vapor activity). Drawing also reduces the segment mobility according to the NMR spectrum. It is shown that these effects are caused by considerable structural changes occurring in the noncrystalline regions of PE upon drawing. Annealing of drawn PE samples at successively higher temperatures leads to a gradual relaxation of the noncrystalline regions towards the state characteristic of undrawn PE. With increasing annealing temperature S_a as well as the mobility approach values found with undrawn PE.     

Quantitative characterization of deformation in polypropylene fibers

A modus operandi is developed for characterizing, in quantitative morphological terms, the structural changes occurring during the preparation (spinning, drawing, and heat setting) and testing (tensile modulus) of isotactic polypropylene fiber. This involves the application of the following eight different physical techniques: wide-angle x-ray diffraction, birefringence, density, sonic modulus, small-angle x-ray diffraction, dark-field microscopy, small-angle light scattering, and tensile modulus. Structural changes on several organizational levels, the spherulitic, the interlamellar, and the molecular, are determined in this manner and related to the processes involved.     

Crystal structure and crystallinity of poly(aryl ether biphenyl ether ketone ketone)

The crystal structure of poly(aryl ether biphenyl ether ketone ketone) (PEDEKK) was determined to comprise a two-chain orthorhombic unit cell with dimensions a = 0.778 nm, b = 0.606 nm and c = 2.375 nm by using wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). According to the orthorhombic system, the 12 reflections of this polymer were indexed. The crystallite size increases with increasing the crystallization temperature. The results of the degree of crystallinity (W_c,x) calculated from WAXD were compatible with those from density (W_c,d) and calorimetry (W_c,h) measurements.     

A pulsed NMR study of the effects of initial morphology on the structure of extrusion-drawn poly(ethylene terephthalate)

Proton spin–spin relaxation times and the Weibull coefficient have been measured as functions of temperature for poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) drawn at 50°C in both the amorphous and the semicrystalline (50%) states. Two relaxation times T_2a (long) and T_2c (short) are observed for all samples. They are ascribed, respectively, to the relaxation of the amorphous and of the crystalline components including highly strained noncrystalline segments. Effects of initial morphology are found for chain mobility in the noncrystalline regions and for the crystal perfection, evaluated from T_2a and the Weibull coefficient μ_c of the T_2c-component, respectively. For all draw ratios, T_2a for extrudates prepared from the semicrystalline polymer (C-50) is short compared to that for preparations from the amorphous (A-50) polymer. In the A-50 samples, the perfection of stress-induced crystals increase with increasing draw ratio. In the C-50 samples, the crystal orientation increases, whereas the perfection decreases with increasing draw ratio. To improve the crystal perfection, annealing at higher temperature or longer time is required for C-50 as compared with A-50. The value of μ_c correlates well with the change in crystal perfection during deformation and annealing.     

Thermal expansion of polyoxymethylene

The thermal expensivities of polyoxymethylene crystals in the direction parallel (α_|^c) and perpendicular (α_‖^c) to the chain axis have been measured from 160 to 400 K using wide-angle x-ray diffraction. Although polyoxymethylene has a helical chain structure, it exhibits a thermal expansion behavior similar to that of polymer crystals with planar zigzag chains, namely that α_‖^c is negative while α_|^c is positive and larger by an order of magnitude. The negative α_‖^c arises from the shortening along the chain axis caused by the torsional and bending motions of the chain, whereas the large and positive α_|^c reflects the weak interaction across the chains. Combining the crystal data with dilatometric measurements on semicrystalline samples, the thermal expansivity is found to vary linearly with crystallinity, thus allowing the expansivity of the amorphous phase to be derived by extrapolation. With the thermal expansivities of the crystalline and smorphous phases known, the draw ratio dependence can be calculated in terms of existing models and is found to agree reasonably with experimental data.     

Structural and calorimetric investigations on nonaqueous liquid crystals and gel phases in the binary system K-behenate/glycerol

Two mixtures of the binary system K-behenate/glycerol, x _KC22 = 0.30 and 0.50 (x = mole fraction), have been investigated as a function of temperature using small- and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The binary phase diagram based on texture observations using polarizing optical microscopy was confirmed. XRD and DSC measurements provided concordant results with respect to the range of the phase regions in the phase diagram. Only differences between the DSC curves for rising and falling temperatures were detected. The recorded XRD and DSC data of the liquid crystals and gel phases observed are also in agreement with previously reported investigations on K-soap/glycerol. The C ⇆ G and G ⇆ L_α phase transitions correlate with a sharp shift in the d value of the first small-angle reflection. The G phase is characterized by a split of the first small-angle reflections. Also, the position and shape of the wide-angle reflections change and the peak intensity is reduced. Received: 5 July 1999 Accepted in revised form: 27 July 1999     

Extra meridional reflections of drawn polyoxymethylene

Extra meridional reflections (00l: l = 3, 5, 13, 15, 21) were observed in drawn polyoxymethylene (POM). The 003, 0015, and 0021 x-ray diffraction intensities increase on annealing, while the 005 and 0013 intensities decrease. It is concluded that crystalline regions are of two kinds: in the first, which generates the 003, 0015, and 0021 reflections, the molecular conformation is slightly distorted from the uniform helix by intermolecular steric hindrance between the CH₂ groups; and in the second, which generates 005 and 0013 reflections, the molecular conformation is distorted in another way. The second form is converted into the first by annealing. The displacements in the c direction of the CH₂ groups and the oxygen atoms from the uniform helix in the first form are about 1.0% and 0.75% of the interval between a CH₂ group and an oxygen atom along helix axis of the POM crystal; thus the correct conformation in the stable state is known. The nature of distortion in the second region is not clarified but several characteristics are offered.