Sorption of organic vapors into drawn and undrawn polyethylene

Drawing of linear polyethylene at 60°C. to an extension ratio of ten drastically reduces the sorption and diffusion of n-pentane, benzene, methylene chloride, and tetrachloroethylene. Methylene chloride was chosen for more detailed study. The sorption is of the normal Fickean type. It is also fully reversible in the temperature range between 25 and 45°C. if the sorbed amount is kept to below 0.5%. At higher concentrations the sample relaxes so that sorption irreversibly increases. The reversible sorption per gram of amorphous component is about 1/6 of that in undrawn polyethylene. The diffusion constant has a larger temperature and concentration dependence than in the undrawn material. At zero concentration the activation energy for diffusion is 34.4 kcal./mole and the diffusion constant at 25°C. is 8 × 10^?11 cm.²/sec. as compared with 14.4 kcal./mole and 1.5 × 10^?8 cm.²/sec. in undrawn PE. Cold drawing reduces the sorption sites without changing their energy content, but drastically cuts down diffusion and increases the activation energy. A smaller part of the increase of the latter is a consequence of the lower enthalpy of the amorphous material and a larger part is probably due to the increased distance between sorption sites.     

NMR observations of drawn polymers. VII. Nylon 66 fibers

Wide-line NMR spectra have been obtained on an oriented sample of drawn nylon 66 fibers at temperatures between ?196°C and 200°C and at alignment angles between the fiber axis and the magnetic field of 0°, 45°, and 90°. At ?196°C, 20°C, and 180°C, the complete angle dependence of the NMR spectrum has been measured. The second moments of these spectra have been compared to theoretical second moments calculated for various models of chain segmental motion in an attempt to elucidate the mechanisms involved in the low-temperature segmental motion (γ process) and the high-temperature segmental motion (α_c process). In agreement with earlier suggestions, the present results indicate that the γ process consists of segmental motion in noncrystalline regions. The overall decrease in second moment caused by the γ process is consistent with a model in which all noncrystalline segments rotate around axes nearly fixed in space. Furthermore, this decrease shows a pronounced dependence on the alignment angle. It is believed that this is due to tie molecules which become highly oriented along the fiber axis during drawing; their axes of rotation will therefore be nearly parallel to the fiber axis. The segments in noncrystalline entities such as chain folds and chain ends are less well oriented along the fiber axis and make an essentially isotropic contribution to the second moment decrease. The second moment at 180°C indicates the presence of considerable motion in the crystalline regions, and this motion is denoted the α_c process. The second moment S_c of the crystalline regions is strongly dependent on the alignment angle, the predominant feature being a relatively high value of the second moment when the fiber axis is directed parallel to the magnetic field. This is in qualitative, but not quantitative, agreement with the motional model recently advanced by McMahon, which assumes full rotation of the chains around their axes. Excellent quantitative agreement with experiment has been obtained by superimposition of rotational oscillation around the chain axis of amplitude roughtly 50°, and torsion of the chains with neighboring CH₂ groups oscillating around the C? C bond with a relative amplitude of about 40°. A model in which the chains perform rotational jumps of 60° between two equilibrium sites has also been considered (60° flip-flop motion). A distinction between this model and rotational oscillation has not been possible.     

NMR observations of drawn polymers. VIII. Doubly oriented nylon 66

A wide-line NMR study of chain segmental motion in nylon 66 has been made on a rolled sheet having “double orientation.” In this sheet the crystallite c axis, i.e., the molecular chain axis, is oriented preferentially along the roll direction, and the crystallographic (010) plane lies predominantly parallel to the roll plane, or the plane of the sheet. The direction of the applied magnetic field with respect to the sheet is characterized by two angles, the polar angle γ subtended by the roll direction and the magnetic field, and an azimuthal angle ?. NMR spectra were taken at various values of the angles γ and ? and at three temperatures ?196°C, 20°C, and 180°C. The second moments of the absorption spectra taken at 180°C were compared with theoretical predictions of second moments based on two models for the high-temperature segmental motion (called the α_c process) in crystalline regions of nylon 66. One model consists of rotational oscillation with amplitudes δ of segments around their axies. The second model is denoted 60° flip-flop motion and consists of rotational 60°C jumps of the segments around their axes between two equilibrium sites with the possibility that the segments also oscillate with a general amplitudes δ around each site. The experimental results are consistent with fairly large amplitudes δ, in which case both models approach the limiting case of full segment rotation. For this reason the experiments do not allow a distinction between the two models. From the second moments at ?196°C and 20°C the decrease in second moment due to the low temperature segmental motion, the γ process, is obtained. This motion occurs in noncrystalline regions of nylon 66 and is found to cause a decrease in second moment which is strongly dependent on the two angles γ and ?, implying double orientation of the noncrystalline segments. It is suggested that at low temperatures the noncrystalline segments become immobilized in sites dictated by the crystallite orientation through the extensive hydrogen bonding known to exist in nylon 66.     

NMR observations of drawn polymers. IX. Chain mobilization and water mobility in nylon 66

Wide-line NMR spectra of nylon 66 fibers have been obtained at different alignment angles between the fiber axis and the magnetic field, at varying water contents (H₂O and D₂O), and at different temperatures. At 28°C the spectrum of the dry fibers consists of a nearly structureless broad line. At water regains of 1.4% by weight (dry basis) and higher a sharp line appears which originates from highly mobile water molecules. The width of this line decreases with increasing water content, implying an increase of water mobility. Moreover, the width is a function of the alignment angle; this shows that the water is not reorienting isotropically owing to specific water-polymer interaction. The amount of mobile water is always smaller than the amount of water absorbed. At water contents close to saturation, a mobile polymer line appears with a width intermediate between the broad line (immobile polymer) and the sharp water line. This line, most clearly observed at an alignment angle of 0°, is due to a shift of the α_a process to lower temperatures in the presence of water. A similar line is observed in the dry fibers at 120°C. It is shown that the α_a process decreases the NMR second moment only slightly. The shift of the high temperature drop in second moment to lower temperatures in the presence of water is therefore interpreted as due to a shift of the α_c process, and not of the α_a process, to lower temperatures.     

Characterization of drawn and undrawn poly-L-lactide films by differential scanning calorimetry

Poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) is an optically active, biocompatible and biodegradable polymer that has been widely investigated as an artificial cell scaffold material. In its most crystalline form, PLLA is highly anisotropic and is one of the most piezoelectric polymers known. Conversely, amorphous PLLA exhibits little, if any, piezoelectric behavior. Compression molded PLLA films can be endowed with varying amounts of crystalline character and piezoelectricity by uniaxially stretching the polymer in a hot air bath. Understanding the precise crystalline architecture of PLLA that results from tensile drawing is important for constructing cell scaffolds that have highly tailored biodegradation and cell guiding properties. In our work here, we investigate the changes in the thermal properties of PLLA at draw ratios between 1.0 and 5.5 using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The crystallinity of the compression molded undrawn starting material is characterized using X-ray diffraction. Our DSC results show an increase in percent crystallinity with increasing draw up to a draw ratio of 4.0. At greater draw ratios, there is a decrease in the crystalline character exhibited by PLLA.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Infrared studies of drawn polyethylene. II. Orientation behavior of highly drawn linear and ethyl-branched polyethylene

Infrared dichroism is employed to study the orientation of chain molecules in linear and ethyl-branched polyethylene in the crystalline and noncrystalline regions during drawing and subsequent annealing. A crystalline (1894 cm^?1) and a noncrystalline (1368 cm^?1) band, as well as the bands at 909 cm^?1 and 1375 cm^?1 resulting from vinyl endgroups and methyl endgroups and sidegroups, are studied. For these bands relative orientation functions are derived and compared as a function of draw ratio and annealing temperature. It is shown that the relative orientation functions as derived from the dichroism of the noncrystalline, vinyl and methyl bands follow the same curve while the orientation function for the crystalline bands does not. These results support a two-phase model for partially crystalline polyethylene and additionally favor segregation of the endgroups and sidegroups in the noncrystalline component during crystallization. It is further shown that shrinkage occurs at the temperature at which the noncrystalline chain molecules start to disorient. From the dichroism of the methyl groups in ethyl-branched polyethylene, a value for the mean orientation of the noncrystalline chain molecules is calculated. We obtain for the orientation function of the noncrystalline regions at highest draw ratios (λ = 15–20), f = 0.35–0.57, while the chain molecules in the crystallites are nearly perfectly oriented (f ≈ 1.0). On the assumption that the noncrystalline component consists of folds, tie molecules, and chain ends, the different contributions of these components to the overall orientation are estimated. From these the relative number of CH₂ groups incorporated into folds, tie molecules, and cilia can be derived. Further, on the basis of a simple structural model, the relative number of chains on the crystal surface contributing to the different noncrystalline components and their average length are estimated.     

Oriented polymers from solution. III. NMR of polyethylene/polypropylene blends

T₁, T₂, and T_1ρ measurements are reported for a blended fiber of polyethylene and polypropylene prepared by the “surface growth” technique. The data support the view that the fiber contains mixed crystalline regions of each pure component that may weakly interact via spin diffusion. A tentative model is proposed for the blended fiber.     

Thermodynamics of crystalline linear high polymers. V. Extended-chain copolymers of polyethylene

Ethylene—propylene and ethylene—butene-1 copolymers with up to 1.7 side groups per 100 carbons have been crystallized at 227°C. and under 4100–4900 atm. pressure. The resulting crystalline polymers are at least partially of extended-chain crystal morphology. Comparison with the same polymers crystallized at atmospheric pressure, which gives folded-chain crystal morphology, revealed: (1) a density higher by 0.008–0.019 g./cm.³ depending on copolymer content; (2) a similar decrease of crystallinity with side group concentration; (3) a similar decrease of the beginning of melting from 125°C. for homopolymer to 65°C. for 1.7 side groups per 100 carbons; (4) a higher (138 ± 0.8°C.) experimental maximum melting point which, in contrast, is independent of copolymer content and seems to vary only with the fraction of low molecular weight material; (5) a decreasing amount of high-melting crystals with increasing copolymer content (72–8%) and an increasing amount of low-melting crystals (27–53%) with increasing copolymer content. In addition, superheating, which reached 5.5°C. for 50°C./min. heating rates, was detected. It was concluded that high-pressure crystallization leads, at least for part of the crystals, to solid solution formation, while atmospheric pressure crystallization does not. Which mode of crystallization is achieved seems kinetically determined. Experimental techniques were dilatometry, DTA, and calorimetry.     

Temperature variations of NMR second moments for drawn tapes based on polypropylene and polyethylene

Isotropic and drawn tapes prepared from isotactic polypropylene (PP), low density polyethylene (LDPE) and their blend PP/LDPE (70/30) have been studied by broad‐line nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in the temperature range from 120 up to 320 K. The glass‐transition temperatures, T_g, for studied samples have been determined from the temperature dependencies of the NMR second moments. It was found that the NMR spectra and their second moments are additive for isotropic blend in the whole temperature range, while a significant differences from addition rule appear for drawn PP/LDPE blend, when weighted average second moment is calculated by means of second moments of equally drawn homopolymers. It was found out that the LDPE component in the blend is drawn to a greater extent than PP component.     

Fuming nitric acid treatment of polyethylene. IV. Morphology of drawn polyethylene

Drawn PE of different draw ratios (ranging from 1 to 25) and thermal treatment (annealing temperature 80, 100, 110, 120, 127°C.) was treated with fuming nitric acid at 80°C. Weight loss, molecular weight, elastic modulus, and thermograms were measured for annealed and unannealed samples as a function of the treatment time and draw ratio. As a consequence of the preferential oxidation of the noncrystalline portions, there occurs initially a high rate of weight loss and a steep drop in molecular weight, followed by a lower rate of weight loss at nearly constant molecular weight. The elastic modulus stays practically constant up to the moment where the brittleness of the sample prevents further measurement. During the later period the thermograms exhibit one melting peak during the first melting. The remelt of the same sample, however, has two melting peaks with a relative intensity independent of the treatment time. That the two melting peaks are caused by two components of different molecular weights present in the sample is substantiated by fractionation. At very high annealing temperature (127°C.), two peaks appear, not only in the first melting curve of the etched sample, but also in the melting curve of the unetched material. Such an effect is the consequence of partial melting during annealing followed by new crystallization during cooling the sample to room temperature. The findings are related to the morphology of the drawn material under the assumption of preferential scission of chain loops in the amorphous-crystalline sandwich layer model.     

Mechanical and transport properties of drawn low-density polyethylene

Quenched, quenched and annealed, and slowly cooled branched low-density polyethylene films were drawn at 25, 40, and 60°. The true draw ratio λ^L of the volume element was obtained and used to characterize the dependence on plastic deformation of the density, drawing stress, and work of plastic deformation, and the sorption and diffusion of methylene chloride. The effects observed are similar but less drastic than on linear high-density polyethylene. In particular, the transformation from the original lamellar to the final fibrous structure seems to be fastest for λ^L between 3 and 4. But the changes of vapor transport clearly indicate that the transformation is not yet complete even at the highest draw ratio λ^L = 6, just before the sample breaks. Annealing at 90°C of the drawn samples with free ends restores or even increases the transport properties beyond those of the undrawn sample without causing the fibrous structure to revert to the original lamellar structure.     

Mechanical and transport properties of drawn crosslinked low-density polyethylene

The values of drawing dependence of the density ρ, axial elastic modulus E, and maximum draw ratio λ of crosslinked low-density polyethylene (CLPE) rather similar to those obtained with un-crosslinked branched material of similarly low density. Very much the same applies to the equilibrium concentration of sorbed methylene chloride in the amorphous component and the zero-concentration diffusion coefficient D₀. The exponential concentration coefficient γD , however, even at the maximum draw ratio, shows no indication of the rapid increase so characteristic of the completed transformation from the lamellar to the fibrous structure. On the basis of this finding, one can understand the small deviations in the dependence of the mechanical properties between the crosslinked and uncrosslinked branched material. The segments between the crosslinks, much shorter than the free molecules, favor the formation of the interfibrillar tie molecules that limit the drawability of the sample. But since they cannot be extended to the same length as the free molecules, they contribute less to the total fraction of tie molecules per amorphous layer and hence yield a smaller axial elastic modulus.     

Sorption of benzene and N-hexane in polyethylene

Differential sorption data of benzene and n-hexane vapors in polyethylene have been obtained over wider ranges of temperatures and activities than available before. The data are used to develop a better model or help in the choice of the appropriate theory and modeling assumption from the available ones. Whereas the swelling of the walled-in amorphous region, with some modifications, provides the best correlation for the solubilities, in contrast, the integrated giant crosslink model shows remarkable agreement with the experimental values of diffusivities.     

Structure of fibers drawn from polyethylene single crystals

Transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction were used to study the molecular structure of fibers drawn from polyethylene single crystals at 77, 293, and 383°K. The results suggest that the formation of the fibers occurs by a two-step process. The first step is the breaking off of single blocks of folded chains from the single crystals so that a “string-of-pearls” structure is obtained. If the temperature is sufficiently high this process is followed by the thermally activated rearrangement of the molecules in the drawn fibers so that a “bamboo” structure results.     

Sorption of propane and propylene in polyethylene

Measurements are reported of the solubility and concentration of propane and propylene in polyethylene, at temperatures from ?30°C to +30°C and pressures from 1.68 to 3.52 atm. Solubility of both gases in polymer depends on penetrant activity. Henry's law is not obeyed at high values of the penetrant activity, i.e., in the vicinity of the condensation point of the gas. The interaction between the solvent and the polymer is independent of pressure and a function of temperature. The propylene-polyethylene interaction seems to reach a maximum at 10°C within the range investigated. A physical mechanism, based on opposite effects of temperature upon polymer and penetrant, is suggested to explain the results.     

Properties and structures of films drawn from polyethylene single-crystal mats

The properties and structures of polyethylene films drawn from mats of single crystals were investigated in comparison with films drawn from bulk polymer. The most important result obtained is that the structural reorganization stimulated by mechanical stress and annealing occurs with much greater difficulty in the mat-drawn film. The chief mechanical characteristics of the film are a very low extensibility and a very high modulus. Structural characteristics, such as the double-orientation of the crystalline region and the morphology of the crystals, do suffer no substantial changes during annealing at high temperatures. This stability of the structure can be related to the characteristic fine structure of the mat-drawn film in which there are a much larger number of tie chains, connecting neighboring crystals, than in the bulk-drawn specimen. Relaxation of the amorphous region and a notable increase in long spacing take place in the mat-drawn sample as in ordinary bulk-drawn samples. However, the morphological changes of the crystals accompanied by the folding back of chains seem to take place with great difficulty during annealing even in the vicinity of the melting point.     

Melting behavior of drawn films from polyethylene single-crystal mats

Drawing of mats of linear polyethylene single crystals prepared from dilute solution is possible at temperatures above about 90°C. The structure and properties of the drawn specimens are much different from those ordinary drawn bulk polymer. Drawn mats have been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. The characteristic experimental results are: (a) a broad melting curve, (b) considerable superheating depending on the rate of heating, (c) constancy of the melting point and the heat of fusion with annealing, (d) deviation from the relation between the heat of fusion and the density obtained for the drawn bulk specimens, (e) appearance of two melting peaks in samples annealed at temperatures above about 130°C. These results imply that the structure of the drawn mat is characterized by a larger number of the tie chains connecting the neighboring crystals (the structure postulated in earlier papers) than is the case in ordinary drawn bulk polymer. It can be concluded that the transformation of a fringed micellar type of structure to the folded lamellar structure may be difficult during annealing unless crystals melt and then recrystallize during cooling.