Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopic Analysis of Plastic Deformation of High-Density Polyethylene

Abstract

In this paper, for the first time, positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, after an appropriate adaptation, was used to analyze the plastic deformation process of high-density polyethylene as a representative semicrystalline polymer. It was shown that the average size of the free volume pores of the amorphous phase in the studied strain range decreased in comparison with the undeformed polyethylene, even after the initiation of the cavitation phenomenon due to highly anisotropic, ellipsoidal shape of cavities with the aspect ratio amounting to ∼45. The mean positron lifetime was practically constant in the analyzed range of strains even after activation of the micromechanisms of plastic deformation of crystals due to the mutually compensating effects activated in the crystalline phase. A clear change of the dispersion of positron lifetime as a function of local strain was observed. This effect was correlated with the reduction of the crystallites length by the relative displacement (slips) of adjacent crystalline blocks within individual lamellae.