Morphological study of semicrystalline polymers

This dissertation addresses several unresolved issues pertaining to the morphology of semi-crystalline polymers. The morphology of the simpler semi-crystalline polymers such as, polyethylene (PE) has been well characterized in the literature. Still large gaps exist in the quantitative understanding of the lamellar in the spherulites of these polymers. The intermediate regime between the lamellae and spherulites is still largely unexplored. Further information on this regime will enhance the establishment of vital structure-property relationships in commercially blown PE films. The lamellae may follow fractal scaling laws as they grow from the nucleus to form the spherulite. This mesoscale structure will be investigated by ultra low small angle (Bonse-Hart) scattering.; Variables such as the orientation imported during processing and the branch content the effect the macro-properties of the finished polymer product. In the past the orientation of molecular chains has been studied by several authors using diffraction, birefringence and spectroscopic measurements. In this study the orientation of the lamellae will be quantified using small angle x-ray scattering and an attempt will be made to correlate the orientation to properties such as permeability and machine direction tear strength in blown films of commercial grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE), linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and the newer metallocene resins.; The origin and cause of spherulitic banding in semi-crystalline polymers remains another mystery. The classical formalisms of lamellar banding by Keith and Padden which attribute it to the regular twisting of lamellae are not universal and fail to explain the bands present in other materials such as agates, where there is no evidence of lamellar structures. The phenomena of lamellar banding will be studied in bio-polyester systems, which exhibit distinct, well developed banded spherulites. The effect of copolymerization and thermal treatments during crystallization will be analyzed.; This dissertation will focus on these issues with an attempt to generalize these features for a series of olefin and polyesters systems.