Specific reversible melting of polyethylene

The specific reversibility of the crystallization and melting of linear and branched polyethylene has been determined as function of temperature by temperature‐modulated differential scanning calorimetry. The specific reversibility of crystallization and melting is defined as the ratio of the reversible enthalpy to the total enthalpy of the transition, both measured at the same temperature. This definition emphasizes a close connection between the reversible and irreversible parts of the transition. As one would expect, the crystal‐to‐melt transition of a given portion of a sample can only be reversible at a temperature close to its own temperature of irreversible melting. Reversible melting is absent at temperatures far from irreversible melting, and this is usually seen by experimentation as its zero‐entropy production melting temperature. The reversible change in the fold length, in contrast, is observed far from the melting temperature of the crystal involved. The specific reversibility of the crystallization and melting of polyethylene crystals may exceed 50% outside the temperature range of the main crystallization and melting. The specific reversibility seems rather independent of the branch concentration, and this points to similar mechanisms of the reversible transition in linear polyethylene of high crystallinity and in branched polyethylene of low crystallinity. The reversible transition is due to a local equilibrium at the crystal surface and is, therefore, largely independent of the overall morphology of the sample. In this study, a model is developed that is based on partial molecular melting, which avoids the need of molecular nucleation and permits, therefore, reversible melting as seen for small molecules in the presence of crystal nuclei. It provides an explanation of the rather large number of the crystals that may participate in reversible melting and allows a connection to the fully reversible crystallization of paraffins and the fully irreversible crystallization of extended‐chain crystals of high crystallinity. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 2157–2173, 2003     

熔体温度对聚四氟乙烯结晶形态的影响

用小角光散射、电子显微镜等方法研究了熔体温度对熔融结晶的PTFE结晶形态的影响。结果表明,当熔体温度超过400℃时,PTFE的结晶形态从棒晶逐步向球晶转化,力学性能也随之变坏。DSC的研究阐明,形态与力学性能的变化是由于大分子的降解,而不是因为熔体中发生了物理转变所致。     

Tetrachlorobisphenol-A adipate polymers. I. Crystallization of poly(tetrachlorobisphenol-A adipate)

The properties of melt-crystallized poly(tetrachlorobisphenol-A adipate) were studied by using a differential scanning calorimeter. The dependence of melting point and the degree of crystallinity are reported as a function of the crystallization conditions. The heat of fusion is equal to 8.1 kcal/mole, while the equilibrium melting point, as determined by extrapolation, is 283°C. The polymer crystallized from the melt has a maximum degree of crystallinity of 0.53.     

Morphology of polytetrafluoroethylene before and after irradiation

Supramolecular structure and morphology of as-polymerized, sintered, and gamma-irradiated suspension PTFE were studied with scanning electron microscopy. Irradiation was performed both below and above melting point of crystal phase. Fibrillar supramolecular structure of as-polymerized PTFE is preserved after its sintering. In contrast to as-polymerized PTFE, in the sintered polymer some segments of fibrils form lamellae of thickness 100-300 nm and length up to several microns, with fibrils arranged perpendicularly to a lamella. Irradiation below the melting point (20 and 200 °C) does not change quantitatively PTFE morphology. In both cases and also in the case of pristine PTFE, dense and loose (porous) regions are present in its morphology. Dense regions are packages of irregular shape and consist of densely packaged fibrils. Loose regions consist of individual ribbons and fibrillar lamellae. Irradiation at 200 °C increases greatly the width of lamellae. PTFE structure rearrranges drastically under irradiation above the melting point. New morphology units, spherulites of size about 50 μm, are formed, the spherulites consisting of radially extending fibrils, and porosity decreases substantially. Formation of spherulites is ascribed to radiation-induced chain scission and decrease in molecular mass and viscosity of polymer.     

Effect of MMT,SiO2, CaCO3, and PTFE nanoparticles on the morphology and crystallization of poly(vinylidene fluoride)

The crystallization and melting behaviors of poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) with small amount of nanoparticles (1 wt %), such as montmorillonite (MMT), SiO₂, CaCO₃, or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), directly prepared by melt‐mixing method were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), polarizing optical microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The nanoparticle structure and the interactions between PVDF molecule and nanoparticle surface predominated the crystallization behavior and morphology of the PVDF. Small amount addition of these four types of nanoparticles would not affect the original crystalline phase obtained in the neat PVDF sample (α phase), but accelerated the crystallization rate because of the nucleation effect. In these four blend systems, MMT or PTFE nanoparticles could be well applied for PVDF nanocomposite preparation because of stronger interactions between particle surface and PVDF molecules. The nucleation enhancement and the growth rate of the spherulites were decreased in the order SiO₂ > CaCO₃ > PTFE > MMT. The melting and recrystallization of PVDF was found in MMT addition sample, because of the special ways of ordering of the PVDF chains. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010     

Reversible melting of high molar mass poly(oxyethylene)

The heat capacity, C_p, of poly(oxyethylene), POE, with a molar mass of 900,000 Da, was analyzed by temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimetry, TMDSC. The high molar mass POE crystals are in a folded-chain macroconformation and show some locally reversible melting, starting already at about 250 K. At 335 K the thermodynamic heat capacity reaches the level of the melt. The end of melting of a high-crystallinity sample was analyzed quasi-isothermally with varying modulation amplitudes from 0.2 to 3.0 K to study the reversible crystallinity. A new internal calibration method was developed which allows to quantitatively assess small fractions of reversibly melting crystals in the presence of the reversible heat capacity and large amounts of irreversible melting. The specific reversibility decreases to small values in the vicinity of the end of melting, but does not seem to go to zero. The reversible melting is close to symmetric with a small fraction crystallizing slower than melting, i.e., under the chosen condition some of the melting and crystallization remains reversing. The collected data behave as one expects for a crystallization governed by molecular nucleation and not as one would expect from the formation of an intermediate mesophase on crystallization. The method developed allows a study of the active surface of melting and crystallization of flexible macromolecules.     

THE EFFECT OF CLAY DISPERSION ON THE CRYSTALLIZATION AND MORPHOLOGY OF POLYPROPYLENE／CLAY COMPOSITES

PP/clay composites with different dispersions, namely, exfoliated dispersion, intercalated dispersion and agglomerates and particle-like dispersion, were prepared by direct melt intercalation or compounding. The effect of clay dispersion on the crystallization and morphology of PP was investigated via PLM, SAXS and DSC. Experimental results show that exfoliated clay layers are much more efficient than intercalated clay and agglomerates of clay in serving as nucleation agent due to the nano-scale dispersion of clay, resulting in a dramatic decrease in crystal size (lamellar thickness and spherulites) and an increase of crystallization temperature and crystallization rate. On the other hand, a decrease of melting temperature and crystallinity was also observed in PP/clay composites with exfoliated dispersion, due to the strong interaction between PP and clay. Compared with exfoliated clay layers, the intercalated clay layers have a less important effect on the crystallization and crystal morphology. No effect is seen for samples with agglomerates and particle-like dispersion, in regard to melting temperature, crystallization temperature, crystal thickness and crystallinity.     

Influence of melting conditions on the thermal behaviour of poly(l-lactic acid)

The influence of melting temperature and time on the thermal behaviour of poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) was studied with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Different melting conditions were investigated at temperature ranging from 200 to 210 °C, and for time from 2 to 20 min. For lower-molecular-weight PLLA, a single exothermic peak could be observed at cooling rate of 2 °C/min, after melted at different conditions. The obtained peak temperature and degrees of crystallinity dramatically increased with an increase of melting temperature or time. During subsequent heating scans, double melting peaks could be observed, which were significantly affected by prior melting conditions. The degradation of this material in the melt and the melt/re-crystallization mechanism might be responsible for the observations above. Apart from double melting, double cold crystallization peaks were observed during heating traces for this material after fast cooling (20 °C/min) from the melt. Prior melting conditions could significantly influence the cold crystallization behaviour. The competition between the crystallization from the nuclei remained after cooling, and that from spontaneous nucleation might be responsible for the appearance of double peaks. Additionally, the influence of melting conditions on the thermal behaviour of PLLA was dependent on the initial molecular weight.     

Dynamic viscoelastic properties of unsintered polytetrafluoroethylene

The molecular motion of unsintered polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) was studied by dynamic viscoelastic measurements. From results for variously heat treated suspension polymerized (molding powder) PTFE, the following conclusions are drawn. Molding powder, as received, has a high degree of crystallinity according to calorimetric results and lower magnitude of the γ relaxation, but the behavior of the β relaxation suggests that the crystals are disordered more than those of the sintered PTFE. The β relaxation peak for an emulsion polymerized PTFE (fine powder) occurs at a higher temperature and is sharper than that for the molding powder, so that the crystals of the fine powder are better ordered than that for the molding powder. The behavior of the β relaxation for the radiation induced-polymerized PTFE is affected by polymerization conditions, particularly concentration of emulsifier. It is concluded from the results for the unsintered PTFE polymerized by various methods that the nature of crystalline state is decided during the course of simultaneous polymerization and crystallization. Molding powder as received has a relatively high magnitude of relaxation between 30°C to 180°C, but with little temperature dependence in this temperature range. This relaxation is diminished by gamma-ray irradiation. Since the molding powder has a complicated morphology, the relaxation in this temperature range is attributed to inter-particle friction rather than a relaxation associated with motion on the molecular level.     

Influence of deformation on irreversible and reversible crystallization of poly(ethylene‐co‐1‐octene)

The effect of uniaxial deformation and subsequent relaxation at ambient temperature on irreversible and reversible crystallization of homogeneous poly(ethylene‐co‐1‐octene) with 38 mol % 1‐octene melt‐crystallized at 10 K min was explored by calorimetry, X‐ray scattering, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. At 298 K, the enthalpy‐based crystallinity of annealed specimens increased irreversibly by stress‐induced crystallization from initially 15% to a maximum of, at least, 19% when a permanent set of more than 200% was attained. The crystallinity increased by formation of crystals of pseudohexagonal structure at the expense of the amorphous polymer, and as a result of destruction of orthorhombic crystals. The stress‐induced increase of crystallinity was accompanied by an increase in the apparent specific heat capacity from 2.44 to about 2.59 J g^?1 K^?1, which corresponds to an increase of the total reversibility of crystallization from, at least, 0.10 to 0.17% K^?1. The specific reversibility calculated for 100% crystallinity increased from 0.67 to 0.89% K^?1 and points to a changed local equilibrium at the interface between the crystal and amorphous phases. The deformation resulted in typical changes of the phase structure and crystal morphology that involve orientation and destruction of crystals as well as the formation of fibrils. The effect of the decrease of the entropy of the strained melt on the reversibility of crystallization and melting is discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1223–1235, 2002     

DSC analysis of isothermally melt-crystallized bacterial poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-<Emphasis Type="Italic">co</Emphasis>-3-hydroxyhexanoate) films

The multiple melting behavior of isothermally melt-crystallized poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBHHx) from its melt was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). PHBHHx exhibits a fourfold endothermic melting phenomenon, which were expressed as A, I, II, and III from low to high temperature, and attributed to the melting of secondary lamellae formed at room temperature, the melting of secondary lamellae at crystallization temperature, the melting of primary lamellae, and the melting of the recrystallized lamellae of different stabilities, respectively. Secondary crystallization is much slower than the primary crystallization and needs a relatively long period of time to occur. Furthermore, secondary crystallization at room temperature is heterogeneous, which depends on the presence of the primary lamellae and the secondary lamellae formation.     

Crystallization, glass transition and morphology of (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate oligomers

The study focuses on the effect of the molecular length of isotactic hydroxybutyrate oligomers on the crystal morphology, crystallinity, and spherulitic superstructure. Furthermore, the process of solidification of the quiescent melt is evaluated by the analysis of the crystallization kinetics and of the glass transition. Melt-crystallization is strongly controlled by the chain length, and the regime of cooling. Crystallization can completely be avoided by rapid cooling. Slow cooling allows at best incomplete crystallization, with the crystallinity increasing with chain length. Typically, the maximum crystallinity is between 50% and 80% for OHB of molecular weights of 500 and 5000 g mol⁻¹, respectively. The temperatures of the glass transition and of crystallization/melting increase with molecular length, and are discussed in terms of the Fox-Flory and Gibbs-Thomson equations, respectively. For all samples, regardless of the chain length, spherulitic crystallization is observed, with the perfection of spherulites increasing with decreasing crystallization temperature. The transition of formation of extended-chain crystals to formation of folded-chain crystals occurs at a molecular weight of about 2000 g mol⁻¹, which corresponds to chain length of about 7 nm. Analysis of the heat-capacity increment at the glass transition temperature reveals the existence of a rigid amorphous fraction.     

Specific reversible melting of polymers

Temperature‐modulated differential scanning calorimetry can detect a certain amount of reversible latent heat in flexible macromolecules. In short, one can identify a reversible melting in such polymers earlier thought to exhibit only fully irreversible crystallization and melting. Details of the reversible melting of isotactic polypropylene and ethylene‐1‐octene copolymers of low and medium densities have newly been measured and linked to the crystallization, annealing, or melting temperature. It is possible to assign the experimental reversibility of melting to specific crystal fractions that ultimately melt irreversibly at higher temperatures; that is, it is suggested that reversible melting mainly occurs only between the temperatures of their formation and their zero‐entropy‐production melting temperature, at which they change to a melt of the same degree of metastability. This is supported by the almost complete absence of reversibility below the temperature of crystal formation and the observation of a distinct relationship between the amount of irreversibly by annealing reorganized material and reversibility in the case of isotactic polypropylene. A given crystal fraction, characterized by its formation temperature and zero‐entropy‐production melting temperature, has a specific reversibility of the melt‐to‐crystal transition, which is represented by the ratio of the reversible latent heat to the total enthalpy change when the crystal fraction of interest ultimately melts. This specific reversibility is, for ethylene‐1‐octene copolymers, at least 25% at temperatures in the primary crystallization range, and this indicates that the reversible contribution to the total of the melting processes is much larger than expected from simple calculations by the excess apparent reversible heat capacity being referred to the heat of fusion of the polymer, as is commonly done. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 2039–2051, 2003     

Nucleation,Crystallization, and Thermal Fractionation of Poly (ε‐Caprolactone)‐Grafted‐Lignin: Effects of Grafted Chains Length and Lignin Content

Poly(ε‐caprolactone)‐grafted‐lignin (PCL‐g‐lignin) copolymers with 2 to 37 wt % lignin are employed to study the effect of lignin on the morphology, nucleation, and crystallization kinetics of PCL. Lignin displays a nucleating action on PCL chains originating an intersecting lamellar morphology. Lignin is an excellent nucleating agent for PCL at low contents (2–5 wt %) with nucleation efficiency values that are close to or >100%. This nucleating effect increases the crystallization and melting temperature of PCL under nonisothermal conditions and accelerates the overall isothermal crystallization rate of PCL. At lignin contents >18 wt %, antinucleation effects appear, that decrease crystallization and melting temperatures, reduce crystallinity degree, hinder annealing during thermal fractionation and significantly retard isothermal crystallization kinetics. The results can be explained by a competition between nucleating effects and intermolecular interactions caused by hydrogen bonding between PCL and lignin building blocks. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 1736–1750     

Effect of molecular weight on the crystalline structure of polytetrafluoroethylene as-polymerized

Melting and crystallization behavior of polytetrafluoroethylene as polymerized in emulsion and suspension is shown to depend on molecular weight. DSC heating curves for virgin PTFE with low molecular weight below 3 × 10⁵ have a single peak, whereas curves for higher molecular weight samples have double peaks. With increasing heating rate the areas of higher melting peaks become larger than the lower melting peaks. The morphology of polymer exhibiting double melting peaks is mainly folded ribbons or granular particles. The phenomenon of double melting is explained on the basis of two different crystalline states which correspond to the “fold regions” and the “linear segments” in a folded ribbon. The melting temperature of virgin PTFE is almost constant at ca. 330°C for molecular weights below 1 × 10⁶, and rises as the molecular weight increases above 1 × 10⁶. The heat of melting of virgin PTFE is nearly independent of molecular weight. On the basis of these results, we propose a model for melting and crystallization of low and high molecular weight PTFE and for the crystal structure.     

聚合物熔体冷却阶段结晶行为的多尺度模拟

针对结晶型聚合物熔体冷却过程的结晶行为,建立了偶合宏观温度场与微观结晶形态的多尺度模型.该模型揭示了宏观温度的变化会引起晶核数、晶体生长速率的改变,从而影响微观结晶形态;而微观结晶释放的潜热也将导致宏观温度的改变.为了求解上述多尺度模型,提出了有限体积/像素法偶合的多尺度算法,即在粗网格上采用有限体积法对宏观温度场进行求解,而在细网格上采用像素法对微观结晶形态进行模拟.基于多尺度模型及多尺度算法,文中对二维聚合物熔体模壁等速降温的冷却问题进行了研究,考察了温度、相对结晶度的变化及结晶形态的演化,并比较了不同冷却速率、初始温度对温度、相对结晶度及结晶形态的影响.数值结果表明,冷却速率是影响结晶行为的关键.高冷却速率下,温度平台出现较早,持续较短;结晶过程对应的温度范围较广;且平均晶体直径较小.而初始温度只影响温度平台及结晶行为出现的早晚,与其持续时间几乎无关。     

STUDIES ON THE NATURE OF THE MACROMOLECULAR CONDENSED STATE OF "NASCENT" ULTRA HIGH MOLAR MASS POLYETHYLENE*

 Ultra high molar mass polyethylene (UITPE) powder as polymerized in a slurry process has been studied, in its nascent state, after recrystallization on rapid cooling from the melt and after hot compression molding to a film, by DSC,effect ofannealing the recrystallized specimen at 120～I30℃, morphology by polarizing optical microscopy and small angle X-ray scattering. Based on the experimental results obtained the macromolecular condensed state of the nascent UHPE powder is a rare case of a multi-chain condensed state of non-interpenetrating chains, involving interlaced extended chain crystalline layers and relaxed parallel chain amorphous layers. On melting, a nematic rubbery state of nanometer size domain resulted. The nematic-isotropic transition temperature was judged from literature data to be at least 220℃, possibly higher than 300℃, the exact temperature is however not sure because of chain degradation at such high temperatures. The recrystallization process from the melt is a crystallization from a nematic rubbery state. The drop of remelting peak temperature by 10 K of the specimen recrystallized from its melt as compared to the nascent state has its origin in the decrease both of the crystalline chain stem length and of the degree of crystallinity. The remelting peak temperature could be returned close to that of the nascent state by annealing at 120～130℃.     

The crystallization characteristics of ethylene block copolymers

Block copolymers of ethylene and butadiene with short ethylene sequences and degrees of polymerization up to 250 have been studied calorimetrically to determine their structure in the melt and also on crystallization. Crystallization rate characteristics and the thermodynamic parameters of the melting of block copolymers were studied. Block copolymers with ethylene sequences with degrees of polymerization below 20–30 were amorphous. Those with ethylene sequences of 35–45 units crystallized with extended chain crystals; above 45 units the polyethylene blocks crystallized with chain folding. There was a corresponding reduction in the melting point of the crystals and in the surface free energy of the crystals. The extent of crystallinity that developed within the copolymers was dependent on crystallization temperature and independent of time. This behavior was unlike that exhibited by polyethylene samples of similar molecular weight and was considered due to the effect of phase separation of the two blocks in the melt and nucleation control of the crystallization of the isolated domains. Analogous behavior was observed with polyethylene for polymer blends with polystyrene.     

A calorimetric investigation on high molecular weight polyethylene reactor powders

Reactor powders of high- and ultrahigh-molecular weight polyethylene have been investigated. Two different Ziegler-Natta synthesis processes were used: polymerization in a slurry and in the gas phase. Synthesis temperature range was 30–85°C. Monoclinic crystals were identified in samples synthesized at 30°C. Investigations of thermal parameters were carried out by differential scanning calorimetry. A range of heating rates (0.4–10.0°C/min) was used to obtain information on sample reorganization on heating. The corresponding melt-crystallized samples were scanned and their thermal parameters were compared with those obtained from the original nascent powders. Percent crystallinity and average lamellar thickness, computed by the Thompson-Gibbs equation, were found to be controlled by conditions of synthesis. For reactor powders, the fraction of crystallinity is found to be insensitive to synthesis temperature. Crystallinity is controlled mainly by the synthesis process type: slurry or gas phase. Lamellar thickness was found to decrease as synthesis temperature was increased. This trend is the opposite of what is obtained on melt crystallization and can be interpreted on the basis of Lauritzen and Hoffman's theory of crystal growth. Nascent reactor powders give experimental support for the dependence of lamellar thickness on crystallization temperature that follows the pattern described in the theory at high undercooling. The influence of molecular weight on crystallinity and lamellar thickness of both nascent powders and melt-crystallized samples was also studied. Catalyst and synthesis conditions were found to control crystallinity and crystallite dimensions of the reactor powders. Thus, polyethylenes suitable for a specific purpose can be obtained directly on synthesis.