| Abstract: | Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy has been used for the detection of thermally induced conformational changes in atactic poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). Difference spectra emphasize changes in the distribution of gauche defects in the chains as functions of temperature and annealing. Specific bands in the ν(CCl) and δ(CH2) regions varied with inverse temperature, allowing a calculation of the activation energies of the rotamer species. Conformational changes were also detected in quenched PVC films as a result of annealing below the glass transition temperature, Tg. |
