Elementarerweichungen in Amorphen Polymeren

Thermally stimulated recovery behaviour of amorphous polymers is described in terms of a continuous distribution of sharply defined elementary softening processes in the polymer. It is proposed that each of these elementary processes is the result of a co-operative site-change mechanism. On exceeding the activation temperature for the process, the viscoelastic time constants fall abruptly by many orders of magnitude, as opposed to following an Arrhenius-type law. The implications of this type of behaviour are discussed.

Prof. Schwarzl zum 60. Geburtstag gewidmet.