Solution annealing of poly(TMPS) crystal mats

Poly(tetramethyl-p-silphenylene siloxane) crystal mats initially prepared from benzene/methanol (2:1 v/v), when annealed in small amounts of solvent undergo considerable thickening in the chain direction. When the crystals are annealed above their formation temperature, their physical properties change rapidly at first before reaching an asymptotic limit commensurate with annealing time and type of solvent. Changes in melting temperature, heat of fusion, small-angle x-ray spacing, and wide-angle x-ray scattering patterns have been monitored for three solvents of varying solvent power, ranging from very good to extremely poor. Upon solution annealing, the original crystals mats equilibrate to more stable dimensions compatible with their environment. The activation energy of crystal thickening in contact with a liquid is estimated to be about an order of magnitude lower than that deduced from dry annealing data. It appears that the crystal surface and the crystalline core of the crystals comprising the mats must participate in the measured severalfold increase in long period noted after annealing. The lower surface (or interfacial) energy of the liquid annealed mats compared to isothermally melt-crystallized polymer of similar molecular weight has a direct bearing on the polymer morphology and crystallinity.     

Temperature-dependent x-ray small-angle scattering from melt-crystallized polyethylene

The temperature dependence of x-ray small-angle scattering from fractionated linear polyethylene crystallized from the melt was determined experimentally over a range of temperatures from room temperature to the melting point. It was found in general that only the most intense of the several small-angle peaks exhibited a thermally dependent behavior. Below the crystallization temperature this peak increased in intensity with temperature, at constant peak position. Recrystallization was manifest in a discontinuous shift of the peak. During isothermal crystallization, the peak intensity first increased, then decreased, with time. It is concluded from supplementary electron microscopy and from the behavior of the peak that its position reflects the period of stacking of lamellae and that its intensity is controlled primarily by the thickness of the layer separating lamellae. The reversible peak intensity effect is attributed to an entropydriven growth of the interlamellar layer at the expense of the crystalline lamellae. The intensity effects observed during crystallization are associated with the primary and secondary phases of crystallization. Lamellar surface free energies were computed from melting point observations and were found to increase with molecular weight.     

Structural studies of ultrahigh-modulus polyethylene using nitric acid etching and gel permeation chromatography. II. Influence of polymer molecular weight,draw temperature,and annealing

The technique of nitric acid etching followed by gel permeation chromatography has been used to determine the crystal length distribution in ultrahigh-modulus polyethylenes. The crystal length distribution has been studied as a function of draw ratio, polymer molecular weight, processing conditions, and annealing. The results confirm that although there is a considerable broadening of the crystal length distribution on drawing, the majority of crystals have lengths less that 500 Å. There are detailed changes in the length distribution due to changes in draw temperature, molecular weight, and annealing which are not always reflected in corresponding changes in the long period determined from small-angle x-ray scattering. Possible reasons for these discrepancies are discussed.     

Morphology and modulus–temperature behavior of semicrystalline poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)

The influence of the thermal history on the morphology and mechanical behavior of PET was studied. The degree of crystallinity (density measurements) and the morphological structure (electron microscopy and small-angle x-ray diffraction) depend on the crystallization temperature. The viscoelastic parameters obtained from the modulus–temperature curves are mainly determined by the morphology of the samples. The glass-transition temperature, T_i, is a function of the crystallinity and the crystallization temperature. It is maximum for a crystallinity between 0.34 and 0.39 for a sample crystallized isothermally between 120 and 150°C. This dependence on crystallization conditions is ascribed to the conformation of the amorphous chain segments between the crystalline lamellae as well as the concentration and the molecular weight of the polymer material rejected during isothermal crystallization. Both factors are supposed to be temperature-dependent. The value of the rubbery modulus is a function of both the volume concentration of the crystalline lamellae and the structure of the interlamellar amorphous regions (chain folds, tie molecules, chain ends, and segregated low molecular weight material). Annealing above the crystallization temperature of isothermally crystallized samples has a marked influence on their morphology and mechanical behavior. The morphological structure and the viscoelastic properties of annealed PET samples are completely different from those obtained with samples isothermally crystallized at the same temperature.     

Thermal cycling of glasses. II. Experimental evaluation of the structure (or nonlinearity) parameter x

The structure parameter x (also known as the nonlinearity parameter), which in the KAHR model determines the relative contributions of temperature and structure to the retardation times of polymers in the glass transition region, is evaluated experimentally for a narrow molecular weight fraction of atactic polystyrene by the peak-shift method. This method is based on the dependence on heating rate and annealing time of the endothermal peak temperatures T_p, obtained by differential scanning calorimetry during the heating stage of well-defined three-step thermal cycles. The results obtained from the shifts of T_p, with both heating rate and the amount of isothermal recovery during the annealing stage before reheating, are consistent with the theoretical predictions of the KAHR model. The appropriate analysis of the data for a polystyrene fraction of molecular weight 30,100 leads to a value of x = 0.46 ± 0.02. Furthermore, this value of x is constant for a wide range of annealing times and heating rates and for two different annealing temperatures, in full agreement with the theoretical model. The advantages of the peak-shift method over that used by most other workers, the curve-fitting method, are critically discussed.     

An investigation of the effect of sample preparation on the thermal behavior and the small-angle x-ray scattering of a polyurethane block copolymer

The effect of varying sample preparation parameters on the thermal behavior and on the small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) properties of a polyether polyurethane were investigated. The polyurethane studied was a methylene bis(p-phenyl isocyanate) (MDI)/butanediol/poly(tetramethylene oxide) (PTMO) system synthesized in a 6/5/1 mole ratio by a two-step solution polymerization. The PTMO had a nominal molecular weight of 2000. The samples were compression molded under different conditions for the SAXS experiments. The preparation parameters studied included molding time and temperature, sample thickness, and quenching rate from the molding temperature. The molding temperature has the greatest effect on the SAXS data. In this case the domain size was observed to increase as the molding temperature increased from 130 to 200°C. The thermal properties were also found to be strongly dependent on the molding temperature, as measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). An endotherm related to the annealing that occurs during the molding process appears in each sample near the molding temperature. The other preparation parameters have little or no effect on the SAXS and thermal properties of this sample.     

Nanostructure dependence of field-effect mobility in regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin film field effect transistors

Low polydispersity regioregular polythiophenes with number average molecular weights ranging from 2 to 13 kDa were cast under the same conditions from solution to form a series of field effect transistors (FETs). Tapping mode AFM and grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering revealed that in all cases the polymers formed regular nanofibrillar morphologies with the width of nanofibrils proportional to the weight average contour length of polymer chains, indicating that conjugated backbones were oriented perpendicular to the nanofibril axes. FET charge carrier mobilities exhibited exponential dependence on nanofibril width, pointing to the decisive role of extended conjugated pathways in charge transport.     

Lamellar thickening of polyethylene under high pressure

Single crystal mat (SCM) samples of polyethylene (PE) were prepared from dilute solution of p-xylen, then they were annealed at pressures of 200 and 500 MPa. Lamellar thickness of the original and annealed SCM samples was measured by small-angle X-ray scattering method. Orientation of the molecular chain in those SCM samples was investigated by wide-angle X-ray diffraction pattern. From these X-ray measurements, annealing temperature dependence of the lamellar thickness, i.e., lamellar thickening, under high pressure was obtained. Melting process of the SCM samples was also investigated at 200 and 500 MPa by high pressure differential thermal analysis. Then correspondence between the lamellar thickening and the melting process was studied. The lamellar thickness increases markedly with approaching to the melting temperature of the orthorhombic crystal even in the high pressure region where the high pressure phase (hexagonal phase) appears. The annealing temperature dependence curve of the lamellar thickness at 200 MPa can be superimposed on the curve at 500 MPa by shifting the curve along the temperature scale by 47 K. Large scale lamellar thickening occurs in the orthorhombic crystal phase in the high pressure region. The formation process of extended-chain crystal is discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys, 35: 535–543, 1997     

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.     

Morphological investigations on the nanostructured poly(vinylidene fluoride)/polyamide 11 blends by high-shear processing

Nanostructured poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/polyamide 11 (PA 11) blends of various compositions were prepared using a high-shear extruder. The lamellar morphology of the nanoblends consisting of two crystalline constituents was investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and temperature-variable small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The average lamellar long period and the thickness of the amorphous part for the high-shear-processed blends were larger than those for the low-shear-processed sample, indicating the molecular incorporations between PVDF and PA 11 upon high-shear processing. A novel scattering peak, corresponding to the long period of 25.2 nm, is observed when the SAXS measurements were carried out at a temperature between the melting points of PVDF and PA 11. The structural change with time at high temperature was investigated in situ by SAXS. It was found that the intensity of the new peak increased with time at high temperature and the peak position slowly shifted in the low-angle direction, indicating a gradual increase of the long period for PA 11 crystals upon annealing. The novel scattering peak originates from the enlarged PA 11 lamellar long period in the nanodomain because the peak cannot be observed for the same blends prepared by low-shear-processing. It is considered that the melt PVDF chains are gradually diffused into the galleries of PA 11 lamellae in the PA11 nanodomain, which enlarged the long period of PA 11 because of the more favorable interaction at high temperature. The chain diffusion can only occur from the interface between the PVDF and PA 11 phases, and therefore, almost no change was observed for the long period of bulk PA 11 crystals in the nanoblend.     

Light-scattering studies of phase-demixing of polystyrene/poly(o-chlorostyrene) blends

The phase separation of blends of polystyrene and poly(o-chlorostyrene) has been studied by observing the changing small-angle light-scattering profile with time. As a blend is heated to a temperature at which it undergoes phase separation, a light-scattering maximum is observed which grows in intensity and moves to smaller angles with time. This maximum is associated with a characteristic spacing which increases at a rate which becomes greater at higher temperature or with lower molecular weight. This spacing varies with a power of time as might be expected for domain growth occurring by a viscous flow mechanism. The integrated scattering intensity (invariant) is found to increase initially with time and then remain constant, as is characteristic of phase separation followed by phase ripening.     

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.     

马来酸酐封端聚碳酸亚丙酯的大分子偶联反应

自从 1 969年井上祥平[1] 发现二氧化碳 (CO2 )可以同环氧化合物直接共聚合成脂肪族聚碳酸酯(APC)以来 ,这一学科领域受到科学家的广泛关注[2～ 8] .这是因为CO2 所产生的温室效应 ,成为使全球变暖的主要因素[9,10 ] .已经确定CO2 使气侯变暖占诸多因素中的 66% .目前大气中CO2 的体积浓度为 345ppmv,由于人类的各类活动每年以 1ppmv的速度递增 .因此 ,降低CO2 排放量已成为全人类共同关注的热点之一 .另一方面 ,CO2 的固定化以及消耗、利用显然是一个应积极鼓励的研究课题 .目前人们已经将CO2 同环氧乙烷 (EO)、环氧丙烷 (PO)、环…     

Thermodynamic interactions in blends of poly(4-tert-butyl styrene) and polyisoprene by small-angle neutron scattering

The thermodynamic interactions between poly(4-tert-butyl styrene) [P(4tBS)] and 1,4-polyisoprene (PI; both hydrogenous) were obtained as functions of the temperature, PI molecular weight, and blend composition through the examination of miscible ternary blends of these two components with a common miscible labeled polymer [90% 1,2-deuterated polybutadiene (dPBD)] with small-angle neutron scattering. The thermodynamic interaction parameters between P(4tBS) and dPBD and between P(4tBS) and PI increased with increasing temperature and were consistent with lower critical solution temperature behavior. Although the binary blends of P(4tBS) and dPBD exhibited phase separation at elevated temperatures, the thermodynamic interaction parameters between P(4tBS) and PI remained large and negative and independent of the PI molecular weight. Finally, the thermodynamic interactions for PI and P(4tBS) depended strongly on the ratio of PI to P(4tBS) and were also sensitive to the amount of dPBD present in the ternary blend. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 3204–3217, 2004     

Multiple melting behavior of poly(butylene succinate). I. Thermal analysis of melt‐crystallized samples

The multiple melting behavior of poly(butylene succinate) (PBSu) was studied with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Three different PBSu resins, with molecular weights of 1.1 × 10⁵, 1.8 × 10⁵, and 2.5 × 10⁵, were cooled from the melt (150 °C) at various cooling rates (CRs) ranging from 0.2 to 50 K min^?1. The peak crystallization temperature (T_c) of the DSC curve in the cooling process decreased almost linearly with the logarithm of the CR. DSC melting curves for the melt‐crystallized samples were obtained at 10 K min^?1. Double endothermic peaks, a high‐temperature peak H and a low‐temperature peak L, and an exothermic peak located between them appeared. Peak L decreased with increasing CR, whereas peak H increased. An endothermic shoulder peak appeared at the lower temperature of peak H. The CR dependence of the peak melting temperatures [T_m(L) and T_m(H)], recrystallization temperature (T_re), and heat of fusion (ΔH) was obtained. Their fitting curves were obtained as functions of log(CR). T_m(L), T_re, and ΔH decreased almost linearly with log(CR), whereas T_m(H) was almost constant. Peak H decreased with the molecular weight, whereas peak L increased. It was suggested that the rate of the recrystallization decreased with the molecular weight. T_m(L), T_m(H), T_re, and T_c for the lowest molecular weight sample were lower than those for the others. In contrast, ΔH for the highest molecular weight sample was lower than that for the others. If the molecular weight dependence of the melting temperature for PBSu is similar to that for polyethylene, the results for the molecular weight dependence of PBSu can be explained. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 2411–2420, 2002     

Structural investigation on bulk poly(3-hexylthiophene): Combined SAXS, WAXD, and AFM studies

A detailed structural and morphological study on bulk poly(3-hexylthiophene), having high regioregularity (about 98%) and molecular weight of 16 kDa, has been performed. The combination of wide- and small-angle X-ray diffraction techniques, for the first time on bulk semicrystalline conjugated polymer, allowed to get insight on the structural features of poly(3-hexylthiophene), subjected to different thermal treatments. The evolution or the periodicity, the crystallite dimension and defects, as a function of the annealing were determined. Fibrillar organization, evidenced atomic force microscopy, results in the coexistence of disordered areas where fibrils are randomly oriented and ordered regions where fibrils are organized into stacks, with periodic pattern matching the periodicity determined by X-ray scattering.     

Structure and ordering kinetics of micelles in triblock copolymer solutions in selective solvents

We have used small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to study the micelle structure of a polystyrene-block-poly(ethene-co-butene)-block-polystyrene triblock copolymer in dilute - semidilute solutions in solvents selective for either the outer styrene block (dioxane) or for the middle block (heptane or tetradecane). Measurements of equilibrium structure factors showed that micelles were formed in both types of selective solvents. In the case of dioxane, the micelles are isolated whereas in the case of heptane or tetradecane, a bridged micellar structure may be formed at higher copolymer concentrations. In both cases we observed an ordered cubic structure of insoluble domains (micellar cores) at high concentrations (> 8 %). The micellar scattering function was fit to the Percus-Yevick interacting hard-sphere model. The temperature dependence of the core radius, the hard-sphere interaction radius and the volume fraction of hard spheres were obtained. We also used synchrotron-based time-resolved SAXS to examine the kinetics of ordering of the micelles on a cubic lattice for many different temperature jumps into the ordered cubic phase starting from the disordered micellar fluid phase in different solvents at different concentrations. The time evolution of the structure changes was determined by fitting the data with Gaussians to describe the structure factor of the ordered Bragg peaks and the Percus-Yevick structure factor was used to describe the micellar fluid. The time dependence of the peak intensities and widths as well as of the micellar parameters will be presented. The results showing the kinetics of the transformation from the fluid to the ordered phase were analyzed using the Mehl-Johnson-Avrami theory of nucleation.     

Effect of ionization on the temperature- and pressure-induced phase transitions of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) gels

The ionization effects on the pressure-induced phase transition of weakly charged poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) (PNIPA-AAc) gels have been investigated by small-angle neutron scattering. At low temperature, T, and pressure, P, the structure factor of PNIPA-AAc gels was well represented by a Lorentzian (L) function, which was similar to noncharged PNIPA gels. However, at high Ps, the contribution of inhomogeneities became large and a squared-Lorentzian term had to be added in addition to the L term. At high Ts, on the other hand, a scattering maximum appeared, indicating microphase separation. This scattering maximum was suppressed by increasing P up to P approximately 100 MPa and then reincreased at higher Ps. The following facts were disclosed: (1) The peak position and height were very sensitive to P, which is mainly ascribed to strong pressure dependence of hydrophobic interaction, (2) ionization leads to microphase separation at elevated temperatures, (3) the re-entrant phase behavior is commonly observed in the P-T plane due to the parabolic variation of the polymer-solvent interaction with P, and (4) the pressure and temperature dependence of the structure factor was reproduced with the Rabin-Panyukov theory and was interpreted with a convexity of hydrophobic interaction with respect to pressure.     

Solution properties of ultrahigh molecular weight polymers. VII. Conformational characteristics of poly(butyl methacrylate)

The paper is concerned with light scattering studies on solutions of ultrahigh molecular weight poly(butyl methacrylate). The dependence of the radius of gyration and of the second virial coefficient on the weight-average molecular weight of the polymers was established in methyl ethyl ketone, dimethylformamide, and CCl₄. Short-range and long-range interactions were discussed in terms of the steric factor σ, of the interaction parameter B, and of the interpenetration function ψ(z).     

Flow birefringence of short-chain molecules: Cellulose tricarbanilates in benzophenone

Measurements of flow birefringence of cellulose tricarbanilates were carried out on nine fractions (0.27 × 10⁵ < M ≤ 12 × 10⁵) in a temperature range of 55–110°C, with benzophenone as a matching solvent (dn/dc = 0). The ratio of Maxwell constant to intrinsic viscosity, which has been found to be independent of molecular weight for the limiting case of Gaussian molecules, is successfully interpreted as a function of molecular weight in terms of the recent theory of Gotlib and Svetlov (based on the wormlike chain model of Kratky and Porod). From the measurements at 55°C a number of 36.6 monomer units per random link is deduced. This is in accord with results of small-angle x-ray scattering. For the extinction angle curves a clear transition is observed from rodlike to statistical molecules when the molecular weight is increased. At high molecular weights the master curves obtained for anionic polystyrenes and cellulose tricarbanilates coincide. Implications of this observation on the kinetic stiffness of the cellulose tricarbanilate chain are discussed. The intrinsic viscosity-molecular weight relationship is considered. From a comparison with the results of the theory of Eizner and Ptitsyn it is concluded that the cellulose tricarbanilate chain must be highly solvated in benzophenone.