X-ray diffraction from polymers

Abstract

This chapter discusses the measurement of some characteristics of polymer structure and morphology that impact the polymer properties. Several different techniques are required to examine the structural characteristics in polymers at several length scales. The chapter describes two X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques that are commonly used in the characterization of the structure and morphology in polymers and polymer composites. The first is wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) methods for determining crystal structure, disorder, and orientation. The second is small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) methods for analyzing the fibrillar and lamellar morphology in semicrystalline polymers. The chapter also highlights combination measurements such as simultaneous XRD and elongation, microbeam technique to map the spatial variation in structure, and grazing incidence diffraction (GID) to determine the variation in structure with depth. A combination of techniques, especially electron diffraction, is useful in determining the structures.