Nonaqueous lyotropic liquid-crystalline phases formed by gemini surfactants in a protic ionic liquid

The aggregation behaviors of three Gemini surfactants [(C(s)H(2s)-α,ω-(Me(2)N(+)C(m)H(2m+1)Br(-))(2), s = 2, m = 10, 12, 14] in a protic ionic liquid, ethylammonium nitrate (EAN), have been investigated. The polarized optical microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements are used to explore the lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) formation. Compared to the LLCs formed in aqueous environment, the normal hexagonal and lamellar phases disappear. However, with increasing the surfactant concentration, a new reverse hexagonal phase (H(II)) can be mapped over a large temperature range except for other ordered aggregates including the isotropic solution phase and a two-phase coexistence region. The structural parameters of the H(II) are calculated from the corresponding SAXS patterns, showing the influence of surfactant amount, alkyl chain length, and temperature. Meanwhile, the rheological profiles indicate a typical Maxwell behavior of the LLC phases formed in EAN.     

Formation and properties of reverse micellar cubic liquid crystals and derived emulsions

The structure of the reverse micellar cubic (I2) liquid crystal and the adjacent micellar phase in amphiphilic block copolymer/water/oil systems has been studied by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), rheometry, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Upon addition of water to the copolymer/oil mixture, spherical micelles are formed and grow in size until a disorder-order transition takes place, which is related to a sudden increase in the viscosity and shear modulus. The transition is driven by the packing of the spherical micelles into a Fd3m cubic lattice. The single-phase I2 liquid crystals show gel-like behavior and elastic moduli higher than 104 Pa, as determined by oscillatory measurements. Further addition of water induces phase separation, and it is found that reverse water-in-oil emulsions with high internal phase ratio and stabilized by I2 liquid crystals can be prepared in the two-phase region. Contrary to liquid-liquid emulsions, both the elastic modulus and the viscosity decrease with the fraction of dispersed water, due to a decrease in the crystalline fraction in the sample, although the reverse emulsions remain gel-like even at high volume fractions of the dispersed phase. A temperature induced order-disorder transition can be detected by calorimetry and rheometry. Upon heating the I2 liquid crystals, two thermal events associated with small enthalpy values were detected: one endothermic, related to the "melting" of the liquid crystal, and the other exothermic, attributed to phase separation. The melting of the liquid crystal is associated with a sudden drop in viscosity and shear moduli. Results are relevant for understanding the formation of cubic-phase-based reverse emulsions and for their application as templates for the synthesis of structured materials.     

Pressure effects on the transitions between disordered phases in supercooled liquid silicon

We investigate the pressure effects on the transitions between the disordered phases in supercooled liquid silicon through Monte Carlo simulations and efficient methods to compute free energies. Our calculations, using an environment dependent interatomic potential for Si, indicate that at zero pressure the liquid-liquid phase transition, between the high density liquid and the low density liquid, occurs at a temperature 325K below melting. We found that the liquid-liquid transition temperature decreases with increasing pressure, following the liquid-solid coexistence curve. As pressure increases, the liquid-liquid coexistence curve approaches the region where the glass transition between the low density liquid and the low density amorphous takes place. Above 5 GPa, our calculations show that the liquid-liquid transition is suppressed by the glassy dynamics of the system. We also found that above 5 GPa, the glass transition temperature is lower than that at lower pressures, suggesting that under these conditions the glass transition occurs between the high density liquid and the high density amorphous.     

Phase transition of syndiotactic polypropylene in electrospun nanofibers during progressive heating

By means of high-temperature electrospinning process, syndiotactic polypropylene (sPP) nanofibers with an average diameter of 127 nm were obtained using a rotating disc as a collector. The aligned fibers were subjected to progressive heating for fiber melting. During heating, structural evolution of the sPP nanofibers was investigated in situ by means of two-dimensional wide-angle and small-angle X-ray scattering with synchrotron radiation sources. It was found that the as-spun fibers consist of the antichiral form I (9 %), mesophase (31 %), and amorphous phase (60 %), in the absence of isochiral form II. Upon heating, the mesophase started to melt and completely disappeared at 90 °C. The melting of the mesophase directly produced amorphous chains at 35–60 °C, and brought up the isochiral form II at low temperatures (60–70 °C), as well as the antichiral form I at high temperatures (70–110 °C). These events were in accordance with the DSC heating curve, which exhibited a small endotherm centered at 52 °C for the mesophase melting, followed by a shallow and broad exotherm associated with two phase-transition events, i.e., the crystal reorganization and the crystallization of supercooled liquid. The former is likely due to the solid–solid transition of meso→II phase as suggested by Lotz et al. (Macromolecules 31:9253, 1998), and the latter is relevant with crystallization of amorphous chains to develop the thermodynamic stable form I phase at high temperatures.     

Crystalline structure of polyamide 12 as revealed by solid‐state 13C NMR and synchrotron WAXS and SAXS

The crystalline structure of polyamide‐12 (PA12) was studied by solid‐state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) as well as by synchrotron wide‐ and small‐angle X‐ray scattering (WAXS and SAXS). Isotropic and oriented PA12 showed different NMR spectra ascribed to γ‐ and γ′‐crystalline modifications, respectively. On the basis of the position of the first diffraction peak, the isotropic γ‐form and the oriented γ′‐form were shown to be with hexagonal crystalline lattice at room temperature. When heated, the two PA12 polymorphs demonstrated different behaviors. Above 140 °C, the isotropic γ‐PA12 partially transformed into α‐modification. No such transition was observed with the oriented γ′‐PA12 phase even after annealing at temperatures close to melting. A γ′–γ transition was observed here only after isotropization by melting point. Various structural parameters were extracted from the WAXS and SAXS patterns and analyzed as a function of temperature and orientation: the degree of crystallinity, the d‐spacings, the Bragg's long spacings, the average thicknesses of the crystalline (l_c) and amorphous (l_a) phases, and the linear crystallinity x_cl within the lamellar stacks. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 3720–3733, 2005     

Bulk and dispersed aqueous phase behavior of phytantriol: effect of vitamin E acetate and F127 polymer on liquid crystal nanostructure

Phytantriol (3,7,11,15-tetramethylhexadecane-1,2,3-triol, PHYT) is a cosmetic ingredient that exhibits similar lyotropic phase behavior to monoolein (GMO), forming bicontinuous cubic liquid crystalline structures (Q(II)) at low temperatures and reversed hexagonal phase (H(II)) at higher temperatures in excess water. Despite these similarities, phytantriol has received little attention in the scientific community. In this study, the thermal phase behavior of the binary PHYT-water and ternary PHYT-vitamin E acetate (VitEA)-water systems have been studied and compared with the behavior of the dispersed cubosomes and hexosomes formed with the aid of a stabilizer (Pluronic F127). The phase behavior and nanostructure were studied using crossed polarized light microscopy (CPLM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) techniques. The presence of lipophilic VitEA in the PHYT-water system suppressed the temperature of the Q(II)-to-H(II)-to-L2 transitions, indicating that lipophilic compounds, in relatively small amounts, may have a significant impact on the phase behavior. Increasing the F127 concentration in the phytantriol-based cubosome system did not induce the Q(II)(Pn3m) to Q(II)(Im3m) transition known for the GMO-water system. This indicates a different mode of interaction between F127 and the lipid domains of phytantriol-water systems. Taken together, these results indicate that phytantriol may not only provide an alternative lipid for preparation of liquid crystalline systems in excess water but may also provide access to properties not available when using GMO.     

Phase behavior and self-organized structures of diglycerol monolaurate in different nonpolar organic solvents

Nonaqueous phase behavior and reverse micellar structures of diglycerol monolaurate (DGL) in different nonpolar organic solvents, such as n-decane, n-tetradecane, and n-hexadecane, have been studied over a wide range of compositions and temperatures. The equilibrium phases are identified by means of visual observation and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). A solid phase present at lower temperature swells small amount of oils and transforms into a lamellar liquid crystalline structure at higher temperature. The melting temperature of the solid phase is virtually constant at all mixing ratios of the surfactant and oil. With the further increase of temperature, the liquid crystal transforms into an isotropic single-liquid phase near the surfactant axis, whereas there is a coexistence region of two isotropic phases near the solvent axis. The area of the two-liquid (II) phase region depends largely on the hydrocarbon chain length of the oils, the longer chain leading to the wider II area. Accordingly, the DGL surfactant is most miscible with decane, exhibiting a reduced miscibility with increasing solvent hydrocarbon chain length. Increasing temperature enhances the dissolution tendency of the surfactant in oil, where the two-liquid phase transforms into an isotropic single phase. SAXS analysis based on the GIFT technique is used to characterize the structure of the reverse micellar aggregates in the isotropic single-phase liquids. We have demonstrated that instead of changing polarity or a functional group of the solvent molecules, if we optimize the hydrophilic nature of the surfactant head group, the alkyl chain length of the solvent oils can serve as a tunable parameter of the micellar geometry. The hydrophilic surfactant DGL interestingly forms cylindrical micelles in nonpolar oils, decane, and tetradecane in the dilute region above the II phase region. The micellar size shows temperature dependence behavior, and the micellar length goes on increasing with decreasing temperature; eventually we found a signature of the onset of critical fluctuations in the deduced pair-distance distribution function near the phase separation line. The signature of the attractive interaction between the cylindrical reverse aggregates when a phase separation line is approached is likely to be a precursor of critical phenomenon. Doping with a trace of water results in a similar but more pronounced structural enhancement. The transfer free energy of diglycerol moiety from a hydrophilic environment to different hydrocarbon oils may account for these phenomena.     

Physically crosslinked elastomers prepared from oligomeric polyolefins with mesogenic units

Two ABA‐type liquid crystalline oligomers were newly synthesized, where A was a mesogenic group and B was polyolefin whose molecular mass was 2470. The A segment was prepared from p‐hydroxyl benzoic acid and terephalic acid. The elastomeric films, whose moduli at 20% elongation were 0.4–1.0 MPa, were obtained by solution casting of the ABA‐type oligomers. Dynamic mechanical analysis and differential scanning calorimetry measurement showed the glass transition of amorphous polyolefin segments, the melting of mesogenic groups, and the meso‐to‐isotropic transition of liquid crystalline phase. The formation of microphase‐separated structures was confirmed by a small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) measurement. The presence of hexagonal cylinder domains, which were attributed to the aggregation of mesogenic groups in the polyolefin matrix, was also detected by SAXS. These liquid crystalline oligomers showed anisotropy under the crossed Nicoles, and the textures were observed to be nematic. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 2247–2253, 2000     

Ab initio melting curve of molybdenum by the phase coexistence method

Ab initio calculations of the melting curve of molybdenum for the pressure range 0-400 GPa are reported. The calculations employ density functional theory (DFT) with the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof exchange-correlation functional in the projector augmented wave (PAW) implementation. Tests are presented showing that these techniques accurately reproduce experimental data on low-temperature body-centered cubic (bcc) Mo, and that PAW agrees closely with results from the full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave implementation. The work attempts to overcome the uncertainties inherent in earlier DFT calculations of the melting curve of Mo, by using the "reference coexistence" technique to determine the melting curve. In this technique, an empirical reference model (here, the embedded-atom model) is accurately fitted to DFT molecular dynamics data on the liquid and the high-temperature solid, the melting curve of the reference model is determined by simulations of coexisting solid and liquid, and the ab initio melting curve is obtained by applying free-energy corrections. The calculated melting curve agrees well with experiment at ambient pressure and is consistent with shock data at high pressure, but does not agree with the high-pressure melting curve deduced from static compression experiments. Calculated results for the radial distribution function show that the short-range atomic order of the liquid is very similar to that of the high-T solid, with a slight decrease of coordination number on passing from solid to liquid. The electronic densities of states in the two phases show only small differences. The results do not support a recent theory according to which very low dT(m)dP values are expected for bcc transition metals because of electron redistribution between s-p and d states.     

DC(13)PC bilayers from anomalous swelling to main transition: an X-ray scattering investigation

We have performed small-angle (SAXS) and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) measurements on the lamellar phase and on large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) of DC(13)PC in the temperature range corresponding to the anomalous swelling regime of multibilayer systems, adjacent to the chain melting transition, and across the transition. Our SAXS measurements indicate that on cooling from the L(alpha) phase, a uniform progressive swelling of the lamellar system to anomalous distances, starting approximately 2 degrees C above the main transition, is followed by a region of coexistence, covering the width of the transition ( approximately 0.6 degrees C). Across the transition region, a progressively increasing volume fraction of gel phase with a constant P (beta') interlamellar distance coexists with a decreasing amount of nongel phase that keeps on swelling to longer distances. Along both the swelling and the transition regions, anomalies in the specific heat are observed revealing a two-step process. Simultaneous WAXS experiments show a progressive "density" increase along the swelling region, constituting a direct spectroscopic evidence of an "evolving membrane" approaching the transition in a bulk real system. Calorimetric and densitometric measurements on LUVs are also presented, together with WAXS results, that show the existence of a double step main transition in a single component nanosized closed bilayer.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of the melting of aluminum nanoparticles

Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to determine the melting points of aluminum nanoparticles of 55-1000 atoms with the Streitz-Mintmire [Phys. Rev. B 1994, 50, 11996] variable-charge electrostatic plus potential. The melting of the nanoparticles is characterized by studying the temperature dependence of the potential energy and Lindemann index. Nanoparticles with less than 850 atoms show bistability between the solid and liquid phases over temperature ranges below the point of complete melting. The potential energy of a nanoparticle in the bistable region alternates between values corresponding to the solid and liquid phases. This bistability is characteristic of dynamic coexistence melting. At higher temperatures, only the liquid state is stable. Nanoparticles with more than 850 atoms undergo a sharp solid-liquid-phase transition characteristic of the bulk solid phase. The variation of the melting point with the effective nanoparticle radius is also determined.     

Effect of potential truncations and shifts on the solid-liquid phase coexistence of Lennard-Jones fluids

Molecular simulation results for the solid-liquid coexistence properties of untruncated, truncated, truncated and shifted, and truncated and shifted-force 12-6 Lennard-Jones potentials are reported. It is found that solid-liquid coexistence properties vary systematically with potential truncations, shifts, and cut-off values. Potential truncations and shifts have important consequences at low temperatures, particularly in the vicinity of the triple point. The main influence is on the coexistence pressure whereas both liquid and solid densities are less sensitive to the truncations and shifts. The data reported in this work indicate that the cut-off radius mainly affects the properties of the liquid phase whereas its influence on the solid phase is almost negligible. The data suggest a monotonic variation of the melting temperature as a function of cut-off radius, which contradicts the oscillatory behavior of the melting temperature reported elsewhere.     

Recent advances in nematic and smectic A anchoring on amorphous solid surfaces [1]

New anchoring properties of liquid crystals on amorphous solid surfaces are presented. In nematics (N), angular anchoring is usually described in terms of the Rapini-Papoular form, assuming constant surface order parameter. We generalize this expression, predicting a decrease of surface order for strong surface disorientation. Recent experiments on anchorings of varying strength confirm these predictions. Conjectures for the angular anchoring of smectic A on a solid amorphous surface explain the two easy layer orientations, normal to the surface or parallel, faceting inside a small critical angle. Roughness-induced surface transitions are discussed. For antagonistic nematic and smectic anchorings, we expect, below the N-S_A transition, a bent nematic surface boundary layer, recently observed by smectization under an electric field. Finally, the positional anchoring strength of smectics is introduced in terms of shear induced surface melting, and confirmed by a recent observation of oscillating shear stresses at the layer period.     

Extended Veytsman statistics for the solid–fluid transition in the framework of lattice fluid

Lattice fluid can describe a vapor–liquid transition but not a solid–fluid transition. In this work, we propose a simple and analytic term which yields a solid–fluid transition when coupled with a lattice based equation of state (EOS). The proposed term is derived based on the two assumptions that (1) solid can be considered as highly associated phase affected by strong attractive force and (2) this force is distinct from the conventional attractive forces yielding a vapor–liquid transition. To formulate these assumptions, we extend Veytsman statistics by modifying its density dependency. The derived term was combined with a quasi-chemical nonrandom lattice fluid theory (QLF) developed by the authors. The combined model was found to require only two parameters besides 3 QLF parameters for physical properties calculation of three phases. When tested against equilibrium properties of 8 components, the combined model was found to closely reproduce melting pressure, sublimation pressure, and vapor pressure, but underestimate solid density as well as heat of melting at the triple point temperature. It was found that the present approach can yield a solid–liquid transition at all temperatures.     

Revisiting β-casein as a stabilizer for lipid liquid crystalline nanostructured particles

Lipid liquid crystalline nanoparticles such as cubosomes and hexosomes have unique internal nanostructures that have shown great potential in drug and nutrient delivery applications. The triblock copolymer, Pluronic F127, is usually employed as a steric stabilizer in dispersions of lipid nanostructured particles. In this study, we investigated the formation, colloidal stability and internal nanostructure and morphology of glyceryl monooleate (GMO) and phytantriol (PHYT) cubosome dispersions on substituting β-casein with F127 in increasing proportion as the stabilizer. Internal structure and particle morphology were evaluated using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), while protein secondary structure was studied using synchrotron radiation circular dichroism (SRCD). The GMO cubosome dispersion stabilized by β-casein alone displayed a V(2) (Pn3m) phase structure and a V(2) to H(2) phase transition at 60 °C. In comparison, F127-stabilized GMO dispersion had a V(2) (Im3m) phase structure and the H(2) phase only appeared at higher temperature, that is, 70 °C. In the case of PHYT dispersions, only the V(2) (Pn3m) phase structure was observed irrespective of the type and concentration of stabilizers. However, β-casein-stabilized PHYT dispersion displayed a V(2) to H(2) to L(2) transition behavior upon heating, whereas F127-stabilized PHYT dispersion displayed only a direct V(2) to L(2) transition. The protein secondary structure was not disturbed by interaction with GMO or PHYT cubosomes. The results demonstrate that β-casein provides steric stabilization to dispersions of lipid nanostructured particles and avoids the transition to Im3m structure in GMO cubosomes, but also favors the formation of the H(2) phase, which has implications in drug formulation and delivery applications.     

Mixed fluorinated-hydrogenated surfactant-based system: preparation of ordered mesoporous materials

We have investigated a mixed fluorinated-hydrogenated surfactant-based system [C8F17C2H4(OC2H4)9-C12H25(OC2H4)8] in water. The phase diagram exhibits that the micellar domain can be divided into three parts: above 80 wt% of water both hydrogenated and fluorinated surfactants are completely miscible and they formed mixed micelles in all proportion. When the water concentration is decreased from 80 to 60 wt% a gap of miscibility appears and two micellar zones, one fluorocarbon-rich micelles and one hydrocarbon-rich micelles are observed. The liquid crystal domain is composed of one fluorocarbon-rich (H(F)(1)) and one hydrocarbon-rich (H(H)(1)) hexagonal phase. The hydrophobic radius and the cross-sectional area remain constant in the H(H)(1) and in the H(F)(1) domains. Moreover, SAXS measurements proved that the hydrophobic chains in the liquid crystal phases adopt rather an extended conformation. Then the mixture of surfactants was used as template for the preparation of mesoporous materials. Mesostructured silicas with a well hexagonal array of their channels were prepared via a cooperative templating mechanism (CTM), if the loading of fluorinated surfactant is larger than 50%. Decreasing the proportion of the fluorinated amphiphile in the mixture leads to the formation of mesoporous silica with a disordered structure. In this case the channel arrangement is no longer governed by the fluorinated surfactant but by the hydrogenated one.     

New lipid family that forms inverted cubic phases in equilibrium with excess water: molecular structure-aqueous phase structure relationship for lipids with 5,9,13,17-tetramethyloctadecyl and 5,9,13,17-tetramethyloctadecanoyl chains

With a view to discovering a new family of lipids that form inverted cubic phases, the aqueous phase behavior of a series of lipids with isoprenoid-type hydrophobic chains has been examined over a temperature range from -40 to 65 degrees C by using optical microscopy, DSC (differential scanning calorimetry), and SAXS (small-angle X-ray scattering) techniques. The lipids examined are those with 5,9,13,17-tetramethyloctadecyl and 5,9,13,17-tetramethyloctadecanoyl chains linked to a series of headgroups, that is, erythritol, pentaerythritol, xylose, and glucose. All of the lipid/water systems displayed a "water + liquid crystalline phase" two-phase coexistence state when sufficiently diluted. The aqueous phase structures of the most diluted liquid crystalline phases in equilibrium with excess water depend both on the lipid molecular structure and on the temperature. Given an isoprenoid chain, the preferred phase consistently follows a phase sequence of an H II (an inverted hexagonal phase) to a Q II (an inverted bicontinuous cubic phase) to an L alpha (a lamellar phase) as A* (cross-section area of the headgroup) increases. For a given lipid/water system, the phase sequence observed as the temperature increases is L alpha to Q II to H II. The present study allowed us to find four cubic phase-forming lipid species, PEOC 18+4 [mono- O-(5,9,13,17-tetramethyloctadecyl)pentaerythritol], beta-XylOC 18+4 [1- O-(5,9,13,17-tetramethyloctadecyl)-beta- d-xylopyranoside], EROCOC 17+4 [1- O-(5,9,13,17-tetramethyloctadecanoyl)erythritol], and PEOCOC 17+4 [mono- O-(5,9,13,17-tetramethyloctadecanoyl)pentaerythritol]. The values of T K (hydrated solid-liquid crystalline phase transition temperature) of the cubic phase-forming lipids are all below 0 degrees C. Quantitative analyses of the lipid molecular structure-aqueous phase structure relationship in terms of the experimentally evaluated "surfactant parameter" allow us to rationally select an optimum combination of hydrophilic/hydrophobic part of a lipid molecule that will form a desired phase in a desired temperature range.     

Molecular dynamics studies of the kinetics of phase changes in clusters III: structures, properties, and crystal nucleation of iron nanoparticle Fe331

Molecular dynamics (MD) computer simulations have been carried out to study the structures, properties, and crystal nucleation of iron nanoparticles with 331 Fe atoms or with diameter around 2 nm. Structure information for the nanoparticles was analyzed from the MD simulations. Three crystalline phases and one amorphous phase were obtained by cooling the nanoparticles from their molten droplets at different cooling rates or with different lengths of cooling time periods. Molten droplets froze into three different solid phases and a solid-solid transition from a disordered body-centered cubic (BCC) phase to an ordered BCC phase were observed during the slow cooling and the quenching processes. Properties of nanoparticle Fe₃₃₁, such as melting point, freezing temperature, heat capacity, heat of fusion, heat of crystallization, molar volume, thermal expansion coefficient, and diffusion coefficient, have been estimated. Nucleation rates of crystallization to two solid phases for Fe₃₃₁ at temperatures of 750, 800, and 850 K are presented. Both classical nucleation theory and diffuse interface theory are used to interpret our observed nucleation results. The interfacial free energy and the diffuse interface thickness between the liquid phase and two different solid phases are estimated from these nucleation theories.     

The double melting behavior of a liquid crystalline polyimide derived from PMDA and 1,3‐bis[4‐(4′‐aminophenoxyl) cumyl] benzene

The double melting behavior of a thermotropic liquid crystalline polyimide was studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized light microscopy (PLM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), and small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS). This liquid crystalline polyimide exhibited a normal melting peak around 278 °C and transformed into a smectic A phase. The smectic A phase changed to nematic phase upon heating to 298 °C, then became isotropic melt around 345 °C. The samples annealed or isothermally crystallized at lower temperature showed double melting endotherms during heating scan. The annealing‐induced melting endotherm was highly dependent on annealing conditions, whereas the normal melting endotherm was almost not influenced by annealing when the annealing temperature was low. Various possibilities for the lower melting endotherm are discussed. The equilibrium melting points of both melting peaks were extrapolated to be 283.2 °C. Combined analytical results showed that the double melting peaks were from the melting of the two types of crystallites generated from two crystallization processes: a slow and a fast one. Fast crystallization may start from the well‐aligned liquid crystal domains, whereas the slow one may be from the fringed or amorphous regions. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 3018–3031, 2000     

X-ray diffusive scattering and the mesomorphic states in polymers

The structural peculiarites of a number of polymers have been investigated by using the analysis of the X-Ray amorphous scattering curves. These polymers were studied in three different (amorphous, semi-crystalline and mesomorphic) phase states. By means of such type of analysis, it was shown that: 1) for the amorphous ethylene-propylene random copolymer (PP-PE) and for semicrystalline polyethylene (PE), the glass transition temperature can be determined with a high accuracy; 2) the mesomorphic state and the two structural transitions can be found in noncrystallized polydimethylsilmethylene (PDMSM); 3) besides the crystalline phase, two structural components having pure liquid and mesomorphic nature, may be determined in PE; 4) the mesomorphic state is revealed in poly-4-methyl-pentene-1 (P4MP1) in the temperature range both below and above the melting point; 5) the structural transition is realized within the mesomorphic state in poly-deoamethyloyolohexasiloxanes (PDMCHSs); 6) a new meso-phase 1- mesophase 2 transition is registered in poly-diethylsiloxane (PDES).