Morphology Of Amorphous Polymers And Effects Of Thermal And Mechanical Treatments On The Morphology

Abstract

This report covers the experimental evidence of order and structure in three polymers, namely non-crystallizable atactic polystyrene (including amorphous isotactic polystyrene), crystallizable polyethylene terephthalate in its glassy amorphous state, and natural rubber in its near molten state. All the available evidence from diffraction and microscopy studies strongly indicate that there is a liquid-crystal type chain packing order contained within a nodular structure of limited size (~100Å) present in all three polymers. Effects of annealing and orientation give further support to the structure evidenced in the original poly-mer. The kinds of models which have been proposed for the amorphous state of polymers have also been discussed in order to clarify further the meaning of order in amorphous polymers and the presence of truly disordered regions. © 1972, Walter de Gruyter. All rights reserved.