Synchrotron SAXS and WAXS Studies on Changes in Structural and Thermal Properties of Poly[(R)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate] Single Crystals during Heating

Summary: The annealing and melting behavior of poly[(R)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate] (P(3HB)) single crystals were followed in real time by synchrotron small‐ (SAXS) and wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (WAXS) measurements. The real‐time SAXS measurements revealed that the P(3HB) single crystal exhibits a discontinuous increase of lamellar thickness during heating. The structural changes as observed by SAXS and WAXS were in response to the thermal properties of single crystals characterized by differential scanning calorimetry.

A series of two‐dimensional small‐angle X‐ray scattering patterns of P(3HB) single crystal mats during the lamellar thickening process.     

Quantitative SAXS analysis of the P123/water/ethanol ternary phase diagram

The ternary phase diagram of the amphiphilic triblock copolymer PEO-PPO-PEO ((EO)(20)(PO)(70)(EO)(20) commercialized under the generic name P123), water, and ethanol has been investigated at constant temperature (T = 23 degrees C) by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The microstructure resulting from the self-assembly of the PEO-PPO-PEO block copolymer varies from micelles in solution to various types of liquid crystalline phases such as cubic, 3D hexagonal close packed spheres (HCPS), 2D hexagonal, and lamellar when the concentration of the polymer is increased. In the isotropic liquid phase, the micellar structural parameters are obtained as a function of the water-ethanol ratio and block copolymer concentration by fitting the scattering data to a model involving core-shell form factor and a hard sphere structure factor of interaction. The micellar core, the aggregation number, and the hard sphere interaction radius decrease when increasing the ethanol/water ratio in the mixed solvent. We show that the fraction of ethanol present in the core is responsible for the swelling of the PPO blocks. In the different liquid crystalline phases, structural parameters such as lattice spacing, interfacial area of PEO block, and aggregation number are also evaluated. In addition to classical phases such as lamellar, 2D hexagonal, and liquid isotropic phases, we have observed a two-phase region in which cubic Fm3m and P6(3)mmc (hexagonally close packing of spheres (HCPS)) phases coexist. This appears at 30% (w/w) of P123 in pure water and with 5% (w/w) of ethanol. At 10% (w/w) ethanol, only the HCPS phase remains present.     

Lamellar morphology and equilibrium melting temperature of syndiotactic polystyrene in β‐crystalline form

Lamellar morphology and thickness of syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) samples melt‐crystallized at various temperatures were probed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS). In addition, the melting temperature and enthalpy of the crystallized samples were characterized with differential scanning calorimetry. Under appropriate thermal treatments, all the samples investigated in this study were crystallized into β′ crystal modification, as revealed by wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction. From the SAXS intensity profiles, a scattering peak (or shoulder) associated with lamellar features as well as the presence of anomalous scattering at the zero‐scattering vector were evidently observed. The peculiar zero‐angle scattering was successfully described by the Debye–Bueche model, and subtraction of its contribution from the raw intensity profiles was carried out to deduce the intensity profile merely associated with the lamellar feature. The lamellar thickness obtained from Lorentz‐corrected intensity profiles in this manner agrees with that measured from the TEM images, provided that the two‐phase model is applied. On the basis of the Gibbs–Thomson equation, the modest estimations of equilibrium melting temperature and the surface free energy of the fold lamellar surface are 292.7 ± 2.7 °C and 20.2 ± 2.6 erg/cm², respectively, when lamellar thicknesses measured by TEM are applied. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1626–1636, 2002     

A pyrrole-containing surfactant as a tecton for nanocomposite SiO2 films

A surfactant featuring a polymerizable pyrrole head group (dodecyl-dimethyl-(2-pyrrol-1-yl-ethyl)-ammonium bromide, DDPABr) was synthesized. The thermotropic behavior of the surfactant was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray scattering techniques, with small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analysis revealing a highly ordered lamellar bilayer structure. After full characterization, DDPABr was used in the preparation of mesostructured SiO2 nanocomposite thin films via evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA). Resulting thin SiO2-DDPABr films were studied by 1D and 2D small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) techniques, indicating a lamellar nanocomposite structure. Suitable theoretical SAXS models were applied to fit the experimental 1D SAXS data. The surfactant could be chemically polymerized within the lamellar domains.     

Fragmentation of the lamellae and fractionation of polymer coils upon mixing poly(dimethylacrylamide) with the lamellar phase of aerosol OT in water

The lamellar mesophase formed by surfactant 1,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl) sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT) in deuterated water is mixed with poly(dimethylacrylamide) (PDMAA) polymers of low molecular weight (Mn= (2-20) x 10(3)). The mixtures separate into microphases (lamellar plus isotropic polymer solution). Their microstructures are studied by microscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and deuterium NMR (2H NMR). According to SAXS, the lamellar phase fractionates the molecular weight distribution of the polymer, by dissolving only chains with coil sizes smaller than the thickness of the water layers between lamellae, and keeping larger chains segregated from the lamellar phase. The fraction of polymer that is segregated from the lamellar phase grows with Mn of the polymer. In 2H NMR, there are two signals, a quadrupolar doublet (water molecules hydrating the anisotropic lamellar phase contribute to this doublet) and a singlet (water molecules in the isotropic polymer solution contribute to this singlet). These two signals are deconvoluted to analyze the phases. Mixing with the polymer produces the partial dispersion of the lamellar phase into small fragments (microcrystallites). The structure of these microcrystallites is such that they conserve the regular long period spacing of the macrophase, and are thus identified in SAXS, but they are smaller than the minimum size required to produce quadrupolar splitting (about 4 microm), and therefore, in 2H NMR, they contribute to the singlet. 2H NMR can thus not distinguish between small microcrystallites and an isotropic polymer solution segregated from the lamellar phase; instead small microcrystallites are detected as an apparent increase of the isotropic solution. The degree of dispersion produced by the polymer in the lamellar phase is correlated with the degree of segregation that the polymer suffers. Thus, much greater dispersion into microcrystallites is produced by the higher Mn polymers than by the lower Mn polymers (in the range covered by the present samples, although with a much higher molecular weight sample (3 x 10(6)) that is totally segregated no such microcrystallites were detected).     

Comparative study on the lamellar structure of polyethylene foams

A comparative study on the lamellar morphology of a collection of polyethylene foam (LDPE) has been performed in order to obtain a better understanding of the morphology of the crystalline phase of these materials. The lamellar structure was measured by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) and Raman spectroscopy. The results have shown that the lamellar structure of the foams is different to that of a LDPE solid sheet. Moreover, the different sensitivity of the three experimental techniques to the lamellar structure has also been analyzed.     

卵磷脂与四乙酰氧基苯基卟啉金属配合物的相互作用

本文用~(31)P.NMR和~1HNMR谱分析了卵磷脂的组分和结构,并以小角X射线散射法(SAXS)研究了所合成的六种四乙酰氧基卟啉金属配合物与卵磷脂的相互作用,发现卟啉分子镶嵌于磷脂双层的疏水链之间,使双分子层间距变大,而金属卟啉分子因其与磷脂的极性头基的静电相互作用,所形成的磷脂双分子层的间距介于纯卵磷脂和含有卟啉分子的卵磷脂所构成的双分子层之间.     

Characterization of self-assembled lamellar thermoresponsive silica-hydrogel nanocomposite films

Mesostructured lamellar nanocomposite films with alternating silica and organic layers containing poly(N-isopropropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM) were prepared using evaporation-induced self-assembly. A suitable theoretical approach to analyze the small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) patterns of oriented lamellar two-phase systems was applied to the SAXS data of films of varying composition, providing details on the self-assembly process, the composition, and the polymerization. In particular, this approach allowed an accurate determination of the thickness of the silica and the organic layer. The applicability of the SAXS approach was carefully tested with simulated data and verified by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). TGA and (13)C NMR were used to study the polymerization and linkage to the silica matrix. SAXS and time-resolved grazing incidence SAXS revealed that the phase transition of PNIPAM at ca. 32 degrees C leads to a reversible expansion/contraction perpendicular to the layers on a time scale of ca. 30 min.     

Effect of ethanol on the micellization and gelation of pluronic p123

In certain applications copolymer P123 (E21P67E21) is dissolved in water-ethanol mixtures, initially to form micellar solutions and eventually to gel. For P123 in 10, 20, and 30 wt % aqueous ethanol we used dynamic light scattering from dilute solutions to confirm micellization, oscillatory rheometry, and visual observation of mobility (tube inversion) to determine gel formation in concentrated solutions and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to determine gel structure. Except for solutions in 30 wt % aqueous ethanol, a clear-turbid transition was encountered on heating dilute and concentrated micellar solutions alike, and as for solutions in water alone (Chaibundit et al. Langmuir 2007, 23, 9229) this could be ascribed to formation of wormlike micelles. Dense clouding, typical of phase separation, was observed at higher temperatures. Regions of isotropic and birefringent gel were defined for concentrated solutions and shown (by SAXS) to have cubic (fcc and hcp) and hexagonal structures, consistent with packed spherical and elongated micelles, respectively. The cubic gels (0, 10, and 20 wt % ethanol) were clear, while the hex gels were either turbid (0 and 10 wt % ethanol), turbid enclosing a clear region (20 wt % ethanol), or entirely clear (30 wt % ethanol). The SAXS profile was unchanged between turbid and clear regions of the 20 wt % ethanol gel. Temperature scans of dynamic moduli showed (as expected) a clear distinction between high-modulus cubic gels (G'max approximately 20-30 kPa) and lower modulus hex gels (G'max<10 kPa).     

Small-angle neutron and x-ray scattering study of swollen nylon-6

Results of swelling and small-angle scattering experiments on samples of nylon-6 swollen with heavy water are discussed on the basis of the lamellar and switchboard models. The small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) intensity is very sensitive to the distribution of water in swollen samples, while the small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) data characterize the dry samples. The observed values of the mean-square fluctuation of scattering-density can be explained by a model with assumed inhomogeneous swelling of the amorphous phase.     

Lamellar cluster structure formation resulting from interchain interaction in a novel aromatic polyimide based on PMDA monomer

The aggregation structure of a novel polyimide ( PIM ‐ 6 ) with six methylene flexible spacing groups in biphenyl side chain synthesized by the traditional two‐step imidisation process was investigated by polarized light microscope (PLM), small angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS), wide angle X‐ray scattering (WAXS), and molecular simulation approach. The agreement between the experimental data and simulation result reveals that due to the predominant interchain interaction, each three backbones stack together to form a distinct lamellar cluster with side chains packed inside dispersedly. The thickness of the lamellar cluster is about 16.0 A°, corresponding to a strong peak at 5.5° in SAXS pattern. As the backbone is not perfectly parallel to each other in each lamellar cluster, the distance between each backbone ranges from 5.8 to 8.8 A° possibly relating to the weak peak at 9.8° in WAXS pattern. Meanwhile, no birefringence or apparent phase texture has been observed by PLM indicating an amorphous nature in this film. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010     

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.     

Crystallization and chain conformation of semicrystalline and amorphous polymer blends studied by wide‐angle and small‐angle scattering

We examine the crystallization and chain conformation behavior of semicrystalline poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and amorphous poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) mixtures with wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS), and small‐angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiments. For blends with PEO weight fractions (wt_PEO) greater than or equal to 0.3, below the melting point of PEO, the WAXD patterns reveal that crystalline PEO belongs to the monoclinic system. The unit‐cell parameters are independent of wt_PEO. However, the bulk crystallinity determined from WAXD decreases as wt_PEO decreases. The scattered intensities from SAXS experiments show that the systems form an ordered crystalline/amorphous lamellar structure. In a combination of WAXD and SAXS analysis, the related morphological parameters are assigned correctly. With the addition of amorphous PVAc, both the average amorphous layer thickness and long spacing increase, whereas the average crystalline layer thickness decreases. We find that a two‐phase analysis of the correlation function from SAXS, in which the scattering invariant is linearly proportional to the volume fraction of lamellar stacks, describes quantitatively the crystallization behavior of PEO in the presence of PVAc. When wt_PEO is close to 1, the samples are fully spaced‐filled with lamellar stacks. As wt_PEO decreases from 1.0 to 0.3, more PVAc chains are excluded from the interlamellar region into the interfibrillar region. The fraction outside the lamellar stacks, which is completely occupied with PVAc chains, increases from 0 to 58%. Because the radius of gyration of PVAc with a random‐coil configuration determined from SANS is smaller than the average amorphous layer thickness from SAXS, we believe that the amorphous PVAc chains still persist with a random‐coil configuration even when the blends form an ordered structure. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 2705–2715, 2001     

小角X射线散射表征AOT/水层状溶致液晶的有序性

用小角X射线散射研究了AOT/水层状溶致液晶的有序性. 通过对散射曲线的解析, 讨论了表面活性剂浓度、温度和助表面活性剂等三个方面对溶致液晶层状相结构有序性的影响. 在一定的范围内, 提高温度, 改变表面活性剂浓度和加入少量助表面活性剂可使碳氢链排列由稀疏转变为密实, 层状相也相应地由“柔性双层”过渡到更加有序化的“平面双层”. 基于形状因子和体系内分子间作用力, 提出了层状相形成与有序化的机理, 同时采用分子模拟的方法展现了不同浓度下的液晶结构.     

Phase behavior of the lecithin/water/isooctane and lecithin/water/decane systems

The isothermal pseudo-ternary-phase diagram was determined at 25 degrees C for systems composed oflecithin, water, and, as oil, either isooctane or decane. This was accomplished by a combination of polarizing microscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, and NMR techniques. The lecithin-rich region of the phase diagram is dominated by a lamellar liquid-crystalline phase (Lalpha). For lecithin contents less than 60% and low hydration (mole ratio water/lecithin = W0 < 5.5), the system forms a viscous gel of branched cylindrical reverse micelles. With increase in the water content, the system phase separates into two phases, which is either gel in equilibrium with essentially pure isooctane (for lecithin < 25%) or a gel in equilibrium with Lalpha (for lecithin > 25%). These two-phase regions are very thin with respect to water dilution. For 8 < W0 < 54 very stable water-in-oil emulsions form. It is only after ripening for more than 1 year that the large region occupied by the emulsion reveals a complex pattern of stable phases. Moving along water dilution lines, one finds (i) the coexistence of gel, isooctane and Lalpha, (ii) equilibrium between reverse micelles and spherulites, and, finally, (iii) disconnected reverse micelles that fail to solubilize water for W0 > 54. This results in a Winsor II phase equilibrium at low lecithin content, while for lecithin > 20% the neat water is in equilibrium with a reverse hexagonal phase and an isotropic liquid-crystalline phase. The use of the decane as oil does not change the main features of the phase behavior.     

MOLECULAR AND SUPRAMOLECULAR ORDERING IN CONFINED ENVIRONMENTS

Crystal and phase morphologies and structures determined by self-organization of crystalline-amorphous diblockcopolymers, crystallization of the crystallizable blocks, and vitrification of the amorphous blocks are reviewed through asystematic study on a series of poly(ethylene oxide)-b-polystyrene (PEO-b-PS) diblock copolymers. On the base ofcompetitions among these three processes, molecular and supramolecular ordering in confined environments can beinvestigated. In a concentration-fluctuation-induced disordered (D_(CF)) diblock copolymer, the competition between crystalli-zation of the PEO blocks and vitrification of the PS blocks is momtored by time-resolved simultaneous small angle X-rayscattering (SAXS) and wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) techniques. In the case of T_c相似文献   

Small-angle x-ray scattering study of ionomer deformation

The small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) pattern from a cesium salt of a 6.1 mole % ethylenemethacrylic acid (E-MAA) copolymer is shown to become azimuthally dependent on sample elongation. SAXS was measured using the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) spectrometer with pinhole collimation and a two-dimensional position-sensitive detector. The sample was quenched prior to deformation to avoid crystallization of the ethylene unit which would complicate the interpretation of scattering. The observed SAXS patterns are interpreted in terms of several proposed models for the structure of ionomers. A model in which ionic aggregates are arranged on a paracrystalline lattice is found to be largely in disagreement with the results for undeformed and deformed samples. Spherical and lamellar models incorporating local structure around a central ionic core are capable of predicting the observed SAXS for the undeformed sample. A model of ellipsoidal deformation of the spherical shell-core model fails to predict the correct azimuthal dependence of scattering. However, a deformation scheme involving rotation of the lamellar model is more satisfactory.     

间规1,2-聚丁二烯结晶结构研究

以间规1,2-聚丁二烯(s-PB)为研究对象,通过原位同步辐射小角X射线散射(SR-SAXS)和广角X射线衍射(WAXD)研究其结晶结构的变化过程.SR-SAXS曲线中存在明显的散射峰,表明在等温结晶过程中形成有序结晶结构;在等温结晶后间规1,2-聚丁二烯的片晶厚度、微晶尺寸均正比于1/Tc∞-T,根据高分子结晶中介相机理可以做出合理的解释.     

Effect of thermal oxidation on the spherulitic morphology of high-density polyethylene

The supermolecular structure of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) at various stages of oxidation was studied using polarized optical microscopy and small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS). Samples of HDPE crystallized isothermally at 123°C show a pronounced change in their spherulitic structure with progressive thermal oxidation. Polarized optical micrographs and SAXS data indicate that the average lamellar thickness decreases concomitantly with thermal treatment. Solid-state oxidative scission occurs preferentially at the chain folds where the polymer molecules are strained. This process increases the level of crystallinity of the polymer due to the more efficient packing of crystallites formed by the shorter cleaved chains. The morphological changes are related to the polymer melt flow index, molecular weight distribution, crystallinity and peak melting temperature. A model is proposed to account for the changes in the spherulitic morphology.     

Plasticization and cocrystallization in LLDPE/wax blends

The structure and thermal properties of linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE)/medium soft paraffin wax blends, prepared by melt mixing, were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and small‐ and wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS and WAXS). The blends form a single phase in the melt as determined by SAXS. Upon cooling from the melt, two crystalline phases develop for blends with more than 10 wt % wax characterized by widely different melting points. The wax acts as an effective plasticizer for LLDPE, decreasing both its crystallization and melting temperature. The higher melting point crystalline phase is formed by less branched LLDPE fractions. On the other hand, the lower melting point crystalline phase is a wax‐rich phase constituted by cocrystals of extended chain wax and short linear sequences of highly branched LLDPE chains. The presence of cocrystals was evidenced by standard DSC results, successive self‐nucleation and annealing (SSA) thermal fractionation and by the detection of a new SAXS signal attributed to the lamellar long period of the cocrystals. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 1469–1482