Investigation of the deformation of homogeneous poly(ethylene‐co‐1‐octene) by wide‐ and small‐angle X‐ray scattering using synchrotron radiation

The deformation behavior of homogeneous ethylene‐1‐octene copolymers was investigated as a function of the crystallinity and the crystal size and perfection, respectively, by wide‐ and small‐angle X‐ray scattering using synchrotron radiation. The crystallinity and the crystal size and perfection, respectively, are controlled by the copolymer composition and the condition of melt crystallization. The deformation includes rotation of crystals, followed by plastic deformation and complete melting of the initial crystal population, and final formation of microfibrils. The process of rotation, plastic deformation, and melting of crystals of the initial structure is completed at lower strain if the size and perfection of the crystals, respectively, decrease, that is, if crystals thermally melt at lower temperature. The kinetics of the fibrillation of the initial structure seems independent of the crystal symmetry, that is, rotation and melting of pseudohexagonal and orthorhombic polyethylene crystals (as evident in low‐crystalline specimens) are similar. The structure of the microfibrils, before and after stress release, is almost independent of the condition of prior melt crystallization, which supports the notion of complete melting of the initial crystal population. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1919–1930, 2002     

Oxygen‐barrier properties of cold‐crystallized and melt‐crystallized poly(ethylene terephthalate‐co‐4,4′‐bibenzoate)

This study examined the oxygen‐transport properties of poly(ethylene terephthalate‐co‐bibenzoate) (PETBB55) crystallized from the melt (melt crystallization) or quenched to glass and subsequently isothermally crystallized by heating above the glass‐transition temperature (cold crystallization). The gauche–trans conformation of the glycol linkage was determined by infrared analysis, and the crystalline morphology was examined by atomic force microscopy. Oxygen solubility decreased linearly with volume fraction crystallinity. For melt‐crystallized PETBB55, extrapolation to zero solubility corresponded to an impermeable crystal with 100% trans glycol conformations, a density of 1.396 g cm^?3, and a heat of melting of 83 J g^?1. From the melt, PETBB55 crystallized as space‐filling spherulites with loosely organized lamellae and pronounced secondary crystallization. The morphological observations provided a structural model for permeability consisting of impermeable platelets randomly dispersed in a permeable matrix. In contrast, cold‐crystallized PETBB55 retained the granular texture of the quenched polymer despite the high level of crystallinity, as measured by the density and heat of melting. Oxygen solubility decreased linearly with volume fraction crystallinity, but zero solubility corresponded to an impermeable defective crystal with a trans fraction of 0.83 and a density of 1.381 g cm^?3. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 2489–2503, 2002     

Two‐dimensional Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy study of biosynthesized poly(hydroxybutyrate‐co‐hydroxyhexanoate) and poly(hydroxybutyrate‐ co‐hydroxyvalerate)

Generalized two‐dimensional (2D) Fourier transform infrared correlation spectroscopy was used to investigate the effect of the comonomer compositions on the crystallization behavior of two types of biosynthesized random copolymers, poly(hydroxybutyrate‐co‐hydroxyhexanoate) and poly(hydroxybutyrate‐co‐hydroxyvalerate). The carbonyl absorption band around 1730 cm^?1 was sensitive to the degree of crystallinity. 2D correlation analysis demonstrated that the 3‐hydroxyhexanoate units preferred to remain in the amorphous phase of the semicrystalline poly(hydroxybutyrate‐co‐hydroxyhexanoate) copolymer, resulting in decreases in the degree of crystallinity and the rate of the crystallization process. The poly(hydroxybutyrate‐co‐hydroxyvalerate) copolymer maintained a high degree of crystallinity when the 3‐hydroxyvalerate fraction was increased from 0 to 25 mol % because of isodimorphism. The crystalline and amorphous absorption bands for the carbonyl bond for this copolymer, therefore, changed simultaneously. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 649–656, 2002; DOI 10.1002/polb.10126     

Poly(p‐phenylene sulfide) nonisothermal cold‐crystallization

The poly(p‐phenylene sulfide) (PPS) nonisothermal cold‐crystallization behavior was investigated in a wide heating rate range. The techniques employed were the usual Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and the less conventional FT‐IR spectroscopy and Energy Dispersive X‐ray Diffraction (EDXD). The low heating rates (Φ) explored by EDXD (0.1 K min^?1) and FT‐IR (0.5–10 K min^?1) are contiguous and complementary to the DSC ones (5–30 K min^?1). The crystallization temperature changes from 95 °C at Φ = 0.05 K min^?1 to 130 °C at Φ = 30 K min^?1. In such a wide temperature range the Kissinger model failed. The model is based on an Arrhenius temperature dependence of the crystallization rate and is widely employed to evaluate the activation energy of the crystallization process. The experimental results were satisfactorily fit by replacing in the Kissinger model the Arrhenius equation with the Vogel–Fulcher–Tamann function and fixing U* = 6.28 k J mol^?1, the activation energy needed for the chains movements, according to Hoffmann. The temperature at which the polymer chains are motionless (T_∞ = 42 °C) was found by fitting the experimental data. It appears to be reasonable in the light of our previously reported isothermal crystallization results, which indicated T_∞ = 48 °C. Moreover, at the lower heating rate, mostly explored by FT‐IR, a secondary stepwise crystallization process was well evidenced. In first approximation, it contributes to about 17% of the crystallinity reached by the sample. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 2725–2736, 2005     

Toughening of a propylene‐b‐(ethylene‐co‐propylene) copolymer by a plastomer

Several blends, covering the entire range of compositions, of a metallocenic ethylene‐1‐octene copolymer (CEO) with a multiphasic block copolymer, propylene‐b‐(ethylene‐co‐propylene) (CPE) [composed of semicrystalline isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and amorphous ethylene‐co‐propylene segments], have been prepared and analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry, X‐ray diffraction, optical microscopy, stress‐strain and microhardness measurements, and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. The results show that for high CEO contents, the crystallization of the iPP component is inhibited and slowed down in such a way that it crystallizes at much lower temperatures, simultaneously with the crystallization of the CEO crystals. The mechanical results suggest very clearly the toughening effect of CEO as its content increases in the blends, although it is accompanied by a decrease in stiffness. The analysis of the viscoelastic relaxations displays, first, the glass transition of the amorphous blocks of CPE appearing at around 223 K, which is responsible for the initial toughening of the plain CPE copolymer in relation to iPP homopolymer. Moreover, the additional toughening due to the addition of CEO in the blends is explained by the presence of the β relaxation of CEO that appears at about 223 K. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1869–1880, 2002     

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     

FTIR spectroscopic characterization of structural changes in polyamide‐6 fibers during annealing and drawing

First, we report the development of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic methods to determine the α/γ‐crystalline phase ratio of polyamide‐6 fibers and, in combination with density measurements, the total crystallinity. Using density determinations of the crystallinity of pure α and pure γ samples, we found the absorption coefficient ratio for the 930 (α) and 973 cm⁻¹ (γ) bands to be 4.4, from which we could obtain the α/γ ratio for any polyamide‐6 sample. The application of this FTIR method to the quantitative analysis of phase changes during thermal treatment and the drawing of polyamide‐6 was then made. We confirmed that crystallization during thermal treatments involved increases in both phases and did not involve crystal‐to‐crystal transformation, whereas drawing involved both crystallization of the amorphous phase in the α form and γ→α transformation. Finally, we revisited the band assignments for the amorphous phase of polyamide‐6 and found that the band at 1170 cm⁻¹ was not an amorphous band but, because its absorbance was independent of crystallinity, could be used as an internal reference band. The band at 1124 cm⁻¹ was reliably attributed to the amorphous phase. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 39: 536–547, 2001     

Synthesis,characterization, and ethylene (Co)polymerization behavior of trichlorotitanium 2‐(1‐(arylimino)propyl)quinolin‐8‐olates

A series of trichlorotitanium complexes containing 2‐(1‐(arylimino)propyl)quinolin‐8‐olates was synthesized by stoichiometric reaction of titanium tetrachloride with the corresponding potassium 2‐(1‐(arylimino)propyl)quinolin‐8‐olates and was fully characterized by elemental analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction study of representative complexes. All titanium complexes, when activated with methylaluminoxane, exhibited high catalytic activity toward ethylene polymerization [up to 1.15 × 10⁶ g mol^?1(Ti) h^?1] and ethylene/α‐olefin copolymerization [up to 1.54 × 10⁶ g mol^?1 (Ti) h^?1]. The incorporation of comonomer was confirmed to amount up to 2.82 mol % of 1‐hexene or 1.94 mol % of 1‐octene, respectively. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(ε‐caprolactone) blocks in double crystalline triblock copolymers containing poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate) and poly(ε‐caprolactone) units

The poly(3‐hydroxbutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate)/poly(ε‐caprolactone) block copolymers (PHCLs) with three different weight ratios of PCL blocks (38%, named PHCL‐38; 53%, named PHCL‐53; and 60%, named PHCL‐60) were synthesized by using PHBV with two hydroxyl end groups to initiate ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone. During DSC cooling process, melt crystallization of PHCL‐53 at relatively high cooling rates (9, 12, and 15 °C min^?1) and PHCL‐60 at all the selected cooling rates corresponded to PCL blocks so that PHCL‐53 and PHCL‐60 were used to study the nonisothermal crystallization behaviors of PCL blocks. The kinetics of PCL blocks in PHCL‐53 and PHCL‐60 under nonisothermal crystallization conditions were analyzed by Mo equation. Mo equation was successful in describing the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of PCL blocks in PHCLs. Crystallization activation energy were estimated using Kissinger's method. The results of kinetic parameters showed that both blocks crystallized more difficultly than corresponding homopolymers. With the increase of PCL content, the crystallization rate of PCL block increased gradually. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010     

Analysis of the complex thermal behavior of poly(L‐lactic acid) film. I. Samples crystallized from the glassy state

The melting behavior of poly(L ‐lactic acid) film crystallized from the glassy state, either isothermally or nonisothermally, was studied by wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), small angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and temperature‐modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC). Up to three crystallization and two melting peaks were observed. It was concluded that these effects could largely be accounted for on the basis of a “melt‐recrystallization” mechanism. When molecular weight is low, two melting endotherms are readily observed. But, without TMDSC, the double melting phenomena of high molecular weight PLLA is often masked by an exotherm just prior to the final melting, as metastable crystals undergo melt‐recrystallization during heating in the DSC. The appearance of a double cold‐crystallization peak during the DSC heating scan of amorphous PLLA film is the net effect of cold crystallization and melt‐recrystallization of metastable crystals formed during the initial cold crystallization. Samples cold‐crystallized at 80 and 90 °C did not exhibit a long period, although substantial crystallinity developed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3200–3214, 2006     

Melt‐flow‐induced phase morphologies of a high‐density polyethylene/poly(ethylene‐co‐1‐octene) blend

A blend of high‐density polyethylene and an elastomeric poly(ethylene‐co‐1‐octene) resin, containing 25 mol % octene and long‐chain branching, was phase‐separated in the melt under quiescent conditions. After melt flow, the blend had fine globular or interconnected phase morphologies that were interpreted as originating from the various stages of coarsening after liquid–liquid phase separation through spinodal decomposition. It was inferred that the miscibility of the blend was enhanced under melt flow. After cessation of flow, concurrent liquid–liquid and solid–liquid phase separation took place, resulting in the formation of an interpenetrating morphology comprising amorphous polyethylene, copolymer, and crystalline polyethylene. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 39: 380–389, 2001     

In situ FT‐Raman spectroscopic study of the conformational changes occurring in isotactic polypropylene during its melting and crystallization processes

The conformational changes occurring in isotactic polypropylene during the melting and crystallization processes have been carefully investigated using FT‐Raman spectroscopy at temperatures below, at, and above the polymer melting point. Results confirmed the retention of some crystallinity up to +210 °C, which is 50 °C above the melting point. It was found that, at temperatures just above the melting point (1–10 °C), there is still some short range order of at least 12 monomer units long in certain regions of the melt. At 10 °C above the melting point, the short range order drops below 12 monomer units resulting in the disappearance of the Raman band at 841 cm^–1. Vice versa, the experimental measurements show that the iPP melt system is stable when the persistence length of helical sequences is less than 12 monomer units. As soon as the helix length exceeds 12 units, the 3₁ helix conformation extends quickly and then crystallization occurs. These results are discussed in terms of Imai's microphase separation theory and it agreed very well with it. Also, from our observations for correlation splitting, Raman bands related to conformational states were identified. This analysis indicates the existence of three different conformational states at 808, 830, and 841 cm^–1. The 808 cm^–1 band was assigned to helical chains within crystals (representing crystalline phase). The 841 cm^–1 band was shown to be composed of a band at 841 cm^–1, assigned to shorter chains in helical conformation with isomeric defects (representing the isomeric defect phase), and a broader band at 830 cm^–1 assigned to chains in nonhelical conformation (representing the melt‐like amorphous phase). This indicates the detection of a three‐phase structure in iPP, where a third phase could be due to the presence of defect regions within the crystalline region, or due to the presence of an amorphous–crystal interphase. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2173–2182, 2006     

Structural and conformational changes during thermally‐induced crystallization of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) by infrared spectroscopy

Conformational changes occurring during thermally‐induced crystallization of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) by annealing have been studied using density measurement, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and mid‐infrared spectroscopy (MIR). Infrared spectra of amorphous and semicrystalline PTT were obtained, and digital subtraction of the amorphous contribution from the semicrystalline PTT spectra provided characteristic MIR spectra of amorphous and crystalline PTT. The normalized absorbance of 1577, 1173, and 976 cm^?1 were plotted against the crystallinity showing that these bands can be used unambiguously to represent the trans conformation while the band at 1358 cm^?1 can be used to represent gauche conformation of methylene segment. The presence of a weak band at 1358 cm^?1 in the amorphous spectrum suggested that a small amount of gauche conformation is present in the amorphous phase. Infrared spectroscopy has been used for the first time as a means to estimate the trans and gauche conformations of methylene segments in PTT as a function of T_a. The amount of gauche conformation was plotted against the crystalline fraction and the extrapolation of this plot to zero crystalline fraction provided a value of 0.07, suggested that the pure amorphous phase consist of ～ 7% gauche conformation. It was found that the amorphous and crystalline gauche conformation increases at the expense of amorphous trans conformation during thermally induced crystallization of PTT. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 1497–1504, 2008     

Thermal,crystallization, mechanical,and rheological characteristics of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)/poly(ethylene terephthalate) blends

Blends of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) in the amorphous state were miscible in all of the blend compositions studied, as evidenced by a single, composition‐dependent glass‐transition temperature observed for each blend composition. The variation in the glass‐transition temperature with the blend composition was well predicted by the Gordon–Taylor equation, with the fitting parameter being 0.91. The cold‐crystallization (peak) temperature decreased with an increasing PTT content, whereas the melt‐crystallization (peak) temperature decreased with an increasing amount of the minor component. The subsequent melting behavior after both cold and melt crystallizations exhibited melting point depression behavior in which the observed melting temperatures decreased with an increasing amount of the minor component of the blends. During crystallization, the pure components crystallized simultaneously just to form their own crystals. The blend having 50 wt % of PTT showed the lowest apparent degree of crystallinity and the lowest tensile‐strength values. The steady shear viscosity values for the pure components and the blends decreased slightly with an increasing shear rate (within the shear rate range of 0.25–25 s^?1); those of the blends were lower than those of the pure components. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 676–686, 2004     

Analysis of the complex thermal behavior of poly(L‐lactic acid) film. II. Samples crystallized from the melt

The complex thermal behavior of poly(l ‐lactic acid) films crystallized from the melt, either isothermally or nonisothermally, was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide angle X‐ray diffraction, and small angle X‐ray scattering. The variation of the thermal behavior with crystallization temperature, time, and cooling rate was documented and analyzed. After nonisothermal crystallization at low cooling rates that develop high crystallinity, an obvious double melting peak appears at modest heating rates (e.g., 10 °C/min). At higher heating rates, these samples exhibit only single melting. However, an unusual form of double melting occurs under the majority of the conditions studied under either isothermal or nonisothermal conditions. In this case, double melting is marked by the appearance of a recrystallization exotherm just prior to the final melting that obscures the observation of the melting of the crystals formed during the initial crystallization process. The occurrence of double melting in melt‐crystallized samples was concluded to be the result of a melt‐recrystallization process occurring during the subsequent DSC heating scan; it is a function of crystalline perfection, not the initial crystallinity, nor whether or not the crystallization reached completion at the crystallization temperature. Many other very interesting observations are also discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3378–3391, 2006     

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     

Differential scanning calorimetry,small‐angle X‐ray scattering,and wide‐angle X‐ray scattering on homogeneous and heterogeneous ethylene‐α‐copolymers

The objective of this work was to use both X‐ray and differential scanning calorimetry techniques in a comparative study of the lamellar and crystalline structures of heterogeneous and homogeneous ethylene‐α‐copolymers. The samples differed in the comonomer type (1‐butene, 1‐hexene, 1‐octene, and hexadecene), comonomer content, and catalyst used in the polymerizations. Step crystallizations were performed with differential scanning calorimetry, and the crystallinity and lamellar thicknesses of the different crystal populations were determined. Wide‐angle X‐ray scattering was used to determine crystallinities, average sizes of the crystallites, and dimensions of the orthorhombic unit cell. The average thickness, separation of the lamellae, and volume fractions of the crystalline phase were determined by small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS). The results revealed that at densities below 900 kg/m³, polymers were organized as poorly organized crystal bundles. The lamellar distances were smaller and the lamellar thickness distributions were narrower for the homogeneous ethylene copolymers than for the heterogeneous ones. Step‐crystallization experiments by SAXS demonstrated that the long period increased after annealing. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 1860–1875, 2001     

Poly(L‐lactide)/C60 nanocomposites: Effects of C60 on crystallization of poly(L‐lactide)

The effects of solvent type and concentration of C₆₀ on the crystallization of poly(L ‐lactide) (PLLA) during solvent evaporation, heating from room temperature, and cooling from the melt were investigated by polarized optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The addition of C₆₀ enhanced the PLLA crystallization during solvent evaporation, during heating of the melt‐quenched films, and during cooling from the melt of As‐cast films, except for heating and cooling of the PLLA film with 1 wt % of C₆₀ prepared with dichloromethane. In the case of solvent evaporation, the difference in crystallinity between the PLLA films with and without C₆₀ became higher for the solvent with a lower boiling point. In the case of heating of melt‐quenched films, the addition of C₆₀ had a small effect on the crystallinity of PLLA, whereas significantly lowered the peak top and ending temperatures of cold crystallization, except for melt‐quenched PLLA film with 1 wt % of C₆₀ prepared with dichloromethane. The crystallinity of PLLA was determined by the solvent type, rather than by the C₆₀ concentration. In the case of cooling from the melt of As‐cast films, the addition of C₆₀ elevated the crystallinity and cold crystallization temperature values of PLLA films, except for PLLA films prepared with dichloromethane. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2167–2176, 2007     

Polyamide‐6,6‐based blocky copolyamides obtained by solid‐state modification

Copolyamides based on polyamide‐6,6 (PA‐6,6) were prepared by solid‐state modification (SSM). Para‐ and meta‐xylylenediamine were successfully incorporated into the aliphatic PA‐6,6 backbone at 200 and 230 °C under an inert gas flow. In the initial stage of the SSM below the melting temperature of PA‐6,6, a decrease of the molecular weight was observed due to chain scission, followed by a built up of the molecular weight and incorporation of the comonomer by postcondensation during the next stage. When the solid‐state copolymerization was continued for a sufficiently long time, the starting PA‐6,6 molecular weight was regained. The incorporation of the comonomer into the PA‐6,6 main chain was confirmed by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) with ultraviolet detection, which showed the presence of aromatic moieties in the final high‐molecular weight SSM product. The occurrence of the transamidation reaction was also proven by ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. As the transamidation was limited to the amorphous phase, this SSM resulted in a nonrandom overall structure of the PA copolymer as shown by the degree of randomness determined using ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. The thermal properties of the SSM products were compared with melt‐synthesized copolyamides of similar chemical composition. The higher melting and higher crystallization temperatures of the solid state‐modified copolyamides confirmed their nonrandom, block‐like chemical microstructure, whereas the melt‐synthesized copolyamides were random. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 5118–5129     

Crystallinity and crystalline phase orientation of poly(1,4‐cis‐isoprene) from Hevea brasiliensis and Taraxacum kok‐saghyz

Crystallization is studied for poly(isoprene‐1,4‐cis) from Hevea brasiliensis (natural rubber [NR]) and from taraxacum kok‐saghyz, mainly by collecting wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction patterns after processing and stretching. Although rubber samples before stretching are generally fully amorphous, crystallization can be induced in NR samples by processing at room temperature under moderate pressure. This phenomenon is possibly associated with nucleation by saturated fatty acid components. For rubber samples being fully amorphous in the undeformed state, strain‐induced crystallization occurs only at high strain ratios (α > 4), leading to high degrees of crystalline phase orientation (f_c > 0.9 for α = 5). Rubber samples presenting some crystallinity already in the unstretched state, on the contrary, reach much lower degrees of axial orientation, even for high strain ratios (f_c < 0.7 for α = 5). These differences in crystallinity and in crystalline phase orientations produce large differences in stress–strain behavior of the rubber. By room temperature processing, the considered NR samples can also develop an unreported disordered crystalline modification, with low intensity of 120 and 121 reflections. This disordered crystalline modification, which is also maintained after axial stretching procedures, can rationalized by a structural disorder along the b axis, possibly associated with statistical sequences of A⁺TA^? or A^?T A⁺ conformations for poly(isoprene‐1,4‐cis) chains. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.