Extensional flow-induced crystallization of a polyethylene melt

Measurements of flow-induced orientation and crystallization have been made on a high-density polyethylene melt (HDPE) undergoing a planar extensional flow in a four-roll mill. The HDPE was suspended as a cylindrical droplet at the flow stagnation point in a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) carrier phase. Deformation and crystallization of the HDPE droplet phase were monitored using video imaging in conjunction with measurement of the birefringence and dichroism to quantify the in-situ transformation kinetics. Planar deformation rates along the symmetry axis of the molten HDPE phase were on the order of 0.03 s^?1. Measurements of the initial transformation rate following flow cessation at 131.5°C and 133.2°C show a dependence on initial amorphous phase orientation and the total Hencky strain achieved during flow. The flow-induced crystallization rate is enhanced over the quiescent transformation rate by orders of magnitude, however, the dependence on temperature is less dramatic than expected for a nucleation-controlled growth mechanism. Analysis demonstrates that the melting point elevation model cannot account either qualitatively or quantitatively for the phenomena observed, suggesting that alternative explanations for the strong orientation dependence of the transformation rate are needed.     

Orientation of cylindrical microdomains of triblock copolymers by in situ stress–strain‐ birefringence measurements

The orientation behavior of polystyrene‐block‐hydrogenated polyisoprene‐block‐polystyrene (SEPS) with cylindrical microdomains of polystyrene (PS) dispersed in the rubbery segments was investigated by simultaneous measurements of stress and birefringence during uniaxial stretching. The stress increased sharply with strain below the yield strain and then it gradually increased. In contrast, the birefringence changed little below the yield strain, increased sharply with strain above the yield strain up to a strain of 0.5, and then gradually increased. The characteristic birefringence behavior is attributed to the form birefringence induced by the orientation and the parallel arrangement of the cylindrical microdomains associated with the orientation of the rubbery segments. The orientation function of the cylindrical microdomains f evaluated by analyzing the form birefringence agrees well with that obtained from the SAXS result. The f was almost zero below the yield strain and it increased sharply with strain up to a strain of 0.5 and then was constant above a strain of 0.5. These results suggest that the orientation of the cylindrical microdomains occur above the yield strain up to a strain of 0.5 and that the orientation does not increase above a strain of 0.5 in spite of the continuous orientation of the rubbery ethylene–propylene segments. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 715–723, 2009     

Material design of retardation films with extraordinary wavelength dispersion of orientation birefringence: a review

Orientation birefringence and its wavelength dispersion for various types of cellulose esters are reviewed. Cellulose esters such as cellulose acetate propionate and cellulose acetate butyrate show positive orientation birefringence with extraordinary wavelength dispersion, which is determined mainly by the ester groups rather than the main chains. The acetyl group provides negative orientation birefringence with strong ordinary wavelength dispersion, whereas the propionyl and butyryl groups give positive orientation birefringence with weak wavelength dispersion. Although all groups show ordinary wavelength dispersion, the summation of their orientation birefringences gives extraordinary dispersion. Moreover, the wavelength dispersion is dependent on the stretching ratio due to the difference in the orientation relaxation of each group. On the contrary, cellulose triacetate (CTA) shows negative birefringence with ordinary wavelength dispersion because it has no positive contribution. However, doping a plasticizer having positive orientation birefringence changes the orientation birefringence of CTA from negative to positive, and the wavelength dispersion from ordinary to extraordinary. This is attributed to the cooperative orientation of plasticizer molecules to the stretching direction with CTA chains, known as nematic interaction upon a hot drawing process.     

On the deformation mechanisms of oriented PET and PP films under load

Uniaxially orienred semicrystalline poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(propylene) (PP) films were loaded parallel to draw direction at various temperatures. Changes in the submicroscopical structure of the films under load were examined by small and wide-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS; WAXS) and birefringence measurements. WAXS measurements reveal a decrease of the initial high orientation of the chains in the crystallites during deformation. Simultaneously, an increase of the birefringence was detected, indicating an orientation of chains in the amorphous regions. The alteration of the long period reflections in the SAXS patterns give strong evidence that lamellar stacks with different orientation angles according to load direction are present. Depending on the orientation of stacks, the contribution of lamellar separation to sample deformation alters, giving rise to different amounts of density changes in the stacks. Absolute intensity measurements of SAXS using a Kratky apparatus reveal that lamellar separation occurs preferentially below or in the range of the glass-transition temperature at small strain. With increasing strain and temperatures above the glass-transition slip deformation mechanisms become more important. The formation of microvoids was observed at strain near to elongation at break below or in the range of glass-transition temperature.     

Birefringence in polycarbonate: Molecular orientation induced by cooling stresses. I. Free quenching

The residual birefringence distributions in polycarbonate disks quenched in a liquid bath under various conditions are determined. Unbalanced distributions of approximately parabolic shape are obtained in the cross-sections in general. A systematic influence of the initial quench temperature on the imblance of the birefringence distributions is observed, with higher initial temperatures leading to a strong shift of birefringence in the positive direction. The systematic variation of the birefringence distribution with quenching conditions is interpreted in terms of a stress and an orientation contribution. The distributions are predicted correctly by a numerical program making use of the linear stress-optical rule with a different stress-optical coefficient above and below the glass-transition temperature. The contribution of molecular orientation is distinguished experimentally from the stress contribution by annealing experiments. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Molecular orientation behavior of poly(vinyl chloride) as influenced by the nanoparticles and plasticizer during uniaxial film stretching in the rubbery stage

The structural evolution during uniaxial stretching of poly(vinyl chloride) films was studied using our real time spectral birefringence stretching machine. The effect of clay loading and the amount of plasticizer as well as the rate effects on the birefringence development and true mechanical response are presented with a final model summarizing the molecular phenomena during stretching. Mechano‐optical studies revealed that birefringence correlated with mechanical response (stress, strain, work) nonlinearly. This was primarily attributed to the preexisting strong network of largely amorphous chains connected via small crystallites that act as physical crosslinking points. These crystallites are not easily destroyed during the high‐speed stretching process as evidenced from the birefringence–true strain curves along with the X‐ray crystallinity measurements. At high speeds, the amorphous chains do not have enough time to relax and hence attain higher orientation levels. The crystallites, however, orient more efficiently when stretched at slow speeds. Apparently, some relaxation of the surrounding amorphous chains helps rotate the crystallites in the stretching direction. Overall birefringence is higher at high stretching speeds for a given true strain value. When the nanoparticles are incorporated, the orientation levels are increased significantly for both the crystalline and amorphous phases. Nanoplatelets increase the continuity of the network because they have strong interaction with the amorphous chains and/or crystallites. This in turn helps transfer the local stresses to the attached chains and increase the orientation levels of the chains. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 724–742, 2005     

Optical birefringence and molecular orientation of electrospun polycaprolactone fibers by polarizing-interference microscopy

The potential of polarizing-interference Pluta microscope for determination of optical birefringence of individual nanofibers formed by electrospinning was shown. This technique can be applied for measurements of fiber birefringence, practically at diameter above 300 nm. The molecular orientation of individual polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers was determined from birefringence assuming the same orientation of both phases, crystal and amorphous. The molecular orientation was determined using DSC crystallinity, crystal intrinsic birefringence calculated for the first time for PCL from bond polarizabilities as well as estimated value of amorphous intrinsic birefringence. Our results indicate that the birefringence and thus molecular orientation are strongly inhomogeneous along the nanofibers, reflecting a complex nature of forces acting during electrospinning process. The average molecular orientation is weak if any, being dependent together with fiber thickness and crystallinity on electrospinning parameters, like applied voltage, concentration and type of solvent. The obtained results indicate that the average molecular orientation displays similar dependence on applied voltage as fiber diameter. Relatively low melting temperature of electrospun nanofibers suggests low crystal size and/or high concentration of defects in crystals. This observation corresponds with low crystallinity and molecular orientation, indicating together relatively low degree of crystal ordering due to high rate of cooling and solvent evaporation during electrospinning, limiting thus crystallization process.     

Birefringence in polycarbonate: Molecular orientation induced by cooling stresses. II. Effects of sectioning

Birefringence distributions in cross-sections of quenched polycarbonate disks are investigated. The effects of the introduction of new surfaces by sectioning are studied by using different cross-section widths, by quenching rod-shaped specimens, and by measuring the birefringence with oblique incident light. The experimental results are confirmed by numerical calculations of stress distributions in rods with varying aspect ratios. Stress release by appropriate sectioning is used to distinguish between stress and orientation contribution to birefringence. It is found that cutting cross-sections leads to a major stress redistribution in the width direction. This does not affect the birefringence measurement, but the decrease of the stress level in the long direction needs to be taken into account. The molecular orientation in the quenched samples cannot be explained only by the effect of transient thermal stresses above the glass transition. There is another orientation contribution, most likely related to stress relaxation below T_g. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Stress in polyimide coatings

The effect of film thickness on in-plane molecular orientation and stress in polyimide films prepared from pyromellitic dianhydride with 4,4′-oxydianline was investigated using a prism coupling technique to measure the refractive index. Film thickness was controlled by varying both solution concentration and spinning conditions. Birefringence, the difference between the in-plane and out-of-plane refractive indices, was used to characterize the in-plane molecular orientation. The observed birefringence is a combination of the birefringence resulting from molecular orientation and the birefringence induced by the residual stress present in the films. The birefringence decreases with increasing film thickness over the range of thicknesses studied (3–20 μm) indicating that the molecular orientation decreases with increasing film thickness. The in-plane coefficient of linear thermal expansion (CTE), controlled by the level of orientation in the film, increases from 18 to 32 × 10^?6/°C over the same thickness range. The birefringence of free-standing films was lower than that of adhered films due to the release of residual stress in the film once the film is removed from the substrate. The residual film stress arises primarily from the mismatch in CTEs between the polyimide film and the substrate to which the film is adhered. Thus, since the film anisotropy decreases with increasing thickness, the film stress increases with increasing thickness. Residual stress calculated by integrating the product of the film modulus and the CTE mismatch assuming temperature-dependent properties is comparable to experimentally measured film stress. Ignoring the temperature dependence of the film properties leads to an overestimation of stress. Moisture uptake was used to study the stress dependence of the optical properties. Moisture uptake increases both the in-plane and out-of-plane refractive indices by equal amounts in free-standing films due to an isotropic increase in the polarizability. In adhered films, an increase in moisture uptake leads to a decrease in the birefringence due to a swelling-induced decrease in the residual film stress. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Relation between Energy Contribution to Elastic Force and Strain Dependence of Modulus for Polybutadiene Vulcanizates

It is well known that the modulus G = r/(λ - λ^?2) varies with deformation, thus deviating from the predictions of statistical theories of rubber elasticity which require it to be constant. It has also been found that there is a nonnegligible energy contribution to the elastic force. It is postulated that these two phenomena are related because both arise from energetic interaction between chains.

Based on the lateral order of chains indicated by x-ray fiber diagrams of elongated noncrystallizable elastomers, it is suggested that energetic interaction of chains is induced by strain orientation. Proportionality between these two is assumed. The orientation distribution functions of end-to-end vectors and of statistical chain segments are considered. The proportionality constants are determined from the energy contribution to the strain dependence of the coefficient of thermal expansion. With the aid of these constants the modulus, corrected for energy contribution, is calculated. The observed and calculated elongation dependence of G agree reasonably well.

It is concluded that an energy interaction between aligned chains can account for the deviation of the observed stress elongation relation from the predictions of entropy elasticity theories.     

Solvent effects in flow birefringence of polymer solutions. General theory and discussion of form effects

A new, more realistic optical model of a dilute polymer solution is used to calculate the intrinsic birefringence. A general formula is derived valid for an arbitrary equilibrium distribution function of particles in the system. Besides the contributions due to the polymer and solvent, the resulting relation for intrinsic birefringence also contains terms reflecting the effect of orientation of solvent surrounding the polymer chain and the contribution of optical interactions between polymer segments and molecules of solvent. A detailed discussion of the optical interactions in an isotropic solvent reveals that the problem may be transformed in the first approximation into that of interactions between excess dipoles; however, any separation of the macroform and microform effects has no theoretical justification. It is shown that the microform effect depends on a detailed optical model of the statistical segment, and this effect is calculated for two simple models. The expression suggested by Tsvetkov cannot be applied to a segment consisting of anisotropic monomers.     

Optical and swelling properties of macroscopic “single crystals” of an S–B–S copolymer. I. Samples possessing a lamellar morphology

Samples of an S–B–S three block copolymer exhibiting a lamellar morphology have been prepared, in which the macrolattice formed from the segregated amorphous is uniformly oriented throughout the sample volume. The associated optical anisotropy has been studied in the unswollen state and in the presence of preferential solvents for the polybutadiene phase. The results obtained are consistent with form birefringence being the dominant contribution to the observed birefringence. There is a small contribution from a slight molecular orientation, corresponding to polystyrene chains perpendicular to the lamellar surfaces. The form birefringence is appropriately modified when the sample is in the swollen state by molecular orientation produced in the polybutadiene, due to the anisotropic dimensional changes in the sample. The implication of the results as regards the nature of the polybutadiene phase is also discussed.     

Phenomenological analysis of elongational flow birefringence in semidilute solutions of hydroxypropylcellulose

The relaxation time of a polymer chain in an elongational flow field was investigated for hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) semidilute solution systems by two methods: phenomenological analysis of elongational flow-induced birefringence, and dynamic light scattering (DLS) and rheological measurements. To understand the relaxation time of an entangled semiflexible polymer solution in an elongational flow field, scaling analysis of the elongational flow-induced birefringence curve was performed. The results of both temperature and concentration scaling analyses showed that birefringence curves at different temperatures and at several HPC concentrations were described well by a universal birefringence–strain rate curve. This scaling behavior was compared with the "fuzzy cylinder" model. The critical strain rate corresponded to the correlation time of the slow relaxation mode determined by DLS measurement and the relaxation spectrum obtained by dynamic viscoelasticity measurement. The elongational flow-induced birefringence observed in an HPC semidilute solution was concluded to be attributed to the orientation of the HPC segment in the entangled molecular system, because the dominant relaxation mode is found to be the concentration fluctuation of an entangled molecular cluster in a quiescent state.     

Some optical and mechanical properties of poly(vinyl chloride)

The optical and mechanical properties of poly(vinyl chloride) film were examined by observing both the stress and birefringence during stretching at constant rate, during relaxation at constant length and during a dynamic birefringence experiment. Experiments were also done by varying the temperature at constant length. The changes in birefringence are interpreted in terms of changes in negative distortional birefringence, changes in positive orientation birefringence, and possible reversible changes in birefringence with temperature arising from conformational changes in the polymer chain and changes in the contribution of birefringent crystals.     

Effect of orientation on the relative dispersion of PMDA-ODA polyimide and polypropylene

The relative dispersion of birefringence, D_b, is determined for isotactic polypropylene and Kapton HA PMDA-ODA polyimide films. D_b is then used to identify the dependence of dispersion on the orientation of polymers and is interpreted in terms of fringe jumping. Optical relationships between the in-plane birefringence and wavelength are formulated to predict the in-plane birefringence of oriented Kapton HA PMDA-ODA polyimide films at any wavelength. These relations can be used for the direct comparison of the in-plane birefringence of Kapton PMDA-ODA polyimide films obtained from different optical techniques (i.e., polarized microscopy, polarized refractometry, wave guide coupling, etc.). © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Correlation between the tensile properties and network draw ratio of CO2‐laser‐heated drawn poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers

Low‐orientation and amorphous poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers were drawn continuously with heating by carbon dioxide (CO₂) laser radiation. The tensile properties were examined in terms of the birefringence and network draw ratio, which was estimated from the strain shift of true stress–strain curves. Two drawing forms, neck drawing with a draw efficiency (the ratio of the network draw ratio to the actual draw ratio) of about unity and flow drawing with a draw efficiency of about zero, were found to be stable in the continuous drawing process. Meanwhile, any draw‐efficiency value between zero and unity could be obtained in the batch‐drawing process. The object whose orientation was estimated by the network draw ratio differed from that estimated by birefringence. Two linear relationships were found, between the network draw ratio and tensile strength and between the birefringence and initial modulus. The true stress at breaking increased with the network draw ratio of the CO₂‐laser‐heated drawn fibers, and when the draw ratio exceeded 5.0, it became higher than that for batch‐drawn fibers. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 2322–2331, 2003     

Biaxial orientation characterization on-line and off-line and structure properties correlations in films

In this paper, biaxial orientation characterization techniques are briefly reviewed. Results obtained using birefringence and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques are presented for different applications: On-line monitoring of birefringence for an amorphous polymer (polystyrene); On-line and off-line determination of orientation (birefringence) of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and finally off-line measurement of orientation on polyethylene (LDPE) films using FTIR. Some typical morphologies of blown LDPE films are reported and discussed. Finally, correlations between orientation on one hand and shrinkage and tear strength on the other are attempted.     

Mechanotropic Elastomers

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are anisotropic polymeric materials. When subjected to an applied stress, liquid crystalline (LC) mesogens within the elastomeric polymer network (re)orient to the loading direction. The (re)orientation during deformation results in nonlinear stress‐strain dependence (referred to as soft elasticity). Here, we uniquely explore mechanotropic phase transitions in elastomers with appreciable mesogenic content and compare these responses to LCEs in the polydomain orientation. The isotropic (amorphous) elastomers undergo significant directional orientation upon loading, evident in strong birefringence and x‐ray diffraction. Functionally, the mechanotropic displacement of the elastomers to load is also nonlinear. However, unlike the analogous polydomain LCE compositions examined here, the isotropic elastomers rapidly recover after deformation. The mechanotropic orientation of the mesogens in these materials increase the toughness of these thiol‐ene photopolymers by nearly 1300 % relative to a chemically similar elastomer prepared from wholly isotropic precursors.