Integrated mechanism for the morphological structure development in HDPE melt‐blown and machine‐direction‐oriented films |
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| Authors: | Ayush Bafna Douglas McFaddin Gregory Beaucage Jean Merrick‐Mack Francis M Mirabella |
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| Institution: | 1. Dow Chemical Company, Freeport, Texas 77541;2. Lyondell Chemical Company, Cincinnati, Ohio 45249;3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221;4. Lyondell Chemical Company, Cincinnati, Ohio 45249Lyondell Chemical Company, Cincinnati, Ohio 45249 |
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| Abstract: | The morphologies of a series of blown films and machine‐direction‐oriented (MDO) films, all produced from high density polyethylene, were characterized. In the blown film process, the crystalline morphology develops while the melt is under extensional stress. In the MDO process, drawing takes place in the solid state and deforms the crystalline morphology of the starting film. The films were characterized by wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (WAXS), small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) and atomic force microscopy to determine the lamellar morphology. The effect of the type of deformation on the lamellar morphology was studied and relationships were developed between the lamellar and polymer chain morphology using SAXS and WAXS. Blown and MDO films were found to have very different morphologies. However, an integrated mechanism was developed linking the sequential events in the deformation and morphology development in blown and MDO films. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1834–1844, 2007 |
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| Keywords: | atomic force microscopy (AFM) crystal structures lamellar orientation polyethylene (PE) processing SAXS WAXS |
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