Amorphous phase .

Solvent Resistance. At temperatures below the melting of the crystallites, the parylenes resist all attempts to dissolve them. Although the solvents permeate the continuous amorphous phase, they are virtually excluded from the crystalline domains. Consequently, when a parylene film is exposed to a solvent a slight swelling is observed as the solvent invades the amorphous phase. In the thin films commonly encountered, equilibrium is reached fairly quickly, within minutes to hours. The change in thickness is conveniently and precisely measured by an interference technique. As indicated in Table 6, the best solvents, specifically those chemically most like the polymer (eg, aromatics such as xylene), cause a swelling of no more than 3%. 

Crystallinity has been studied by x-ray irradiation (85). An initial increase caused by chain scission in the amorphous phase was followed (above 3 kGy or 3 X 10 rad) by a gradual decrease associated with a disordering of the crystallites. The amorphous component showed a maximum of radiation-induced broadening in the nmr at 7 kGy (7 x 10 rad). 

Eig. 15. Time—temperature transformation ia a thin-phase change layer during recording/reading/erasiug (3,105). C = Crystalline phase A = amorphous phase = melting temperature = glass-transition temperature RT = room temperature. 

The reading of data is performed optically, based on the difference in reflectivity between the well-reflecting crystalline and the opaque and lower reflecting amorphous phase. A low power laser beam is used to avoid crystallization (Eig. 15, Read). 

To erase information by the transition amorphous — crystalline, the amorphous phase of the selected area must be crystallized by annealing. This is effected by illumination with a low power laser beam (6—15 mW, compared to 15—50 mW for writing/melting), thus crystallizing the area. This crystallization temperature is above the glass-transition point, but below the melting point of the material concerned (Eig. 15, Erase). 

Research has led to alloys which undergo laser-induced crystallization within about 50 ns. This is possible, for example, with TeGe alloys, which also possess the necessary temperature stability up to 180°C and exhibit sufficient reflection (crystalline phase) and transmission characteristics (amorphous phase), respectively. TeGe alloys have not found a practical use because of the formation of depressions in the memory layer typical for them after repeated... 

Density. Density of LLDPE is measured by flotation in density gradient columns according to ASTM D1505-85. The most often used Hquid system is 2-propanol—water, which provides a density range of 0.79—1.00 g/cm. This technique is simple but requires over 50 hours for a precise measurement. The correlation between density (d) and crystallinity (CR) is given hy Ijd = CRj + (1 — Ci ) / d, where the density of the crystalline phase, ify, is 1.00 g/cm and the density of the amorphous phase, is 0.852—0.862 g/cm. Ultrasonic methods (Tecrad Company) and soHd-state nmr methods (Auburn International, Rheometrics) have been developed for crystallinity and density measurements of LLDPE resins both in pelletized and granular forms. 

Density. Although the polymer unit cell dimensions imply a calculated density of 1.33 g/cm at 20°C, and extrapolation of melt density data indicates a density of 1.13 g/cm at 20°C for the amorphous phase, the density actually measured is 1.15—1.26 g/cm, which indicates the presence of numerous voids in the stmcture. 

Some of the most difficult heterophase systems to characterize are those based on hydrocarbon polymers such as mbber-toughened polypropylene or other blends of mbbers and polyolefins. Eecause of its selectivity, RuO staining has been found to be usehil in these cases (221,222,230). Also, OsO staining of the amorphous blend components has been reported after sorption of double-bond-containing molecules such as 1,7-octadiene (231) or styrene (232). In these cases, the solvent is preferentially sorbed into the amorphous phase, and the reaction with OsO renders contrast between the phases. 

A more polar comonomer, eg, an AN comonomer, increases the water-vapor transmission more than VC when other factors are constant. For the same reason, AN copolymers are more resistant to penetrants of low cohesive energy density. AH VDC copolymers, however, are very impermeable to ahphatic hydrocarbons. Comonomers that lower T and increase the free volume in the amorphous phase increase permeability more than the polar comonomers higher acrylates are an example. Plasticizers increase permeabiUty for similar reasons. 

The goethite process precipitates crystalline aFeO-OH (goethite) as well as PFeO-OH, aFe202, and amorphous phases. The reaction is carried out at 90°C and pH 3.0, for 4—6 h in either batch or continuous fashion, and the iron(III) ion must be kept <1 g/L. Both jarosite and goethite soHds are usually lagooned. 

Miscible Blends. Sometimes a miscible blend results when two polymers are combined. A miscible blend has only one amorphous phase because the polymers are soluble in each other. There may also be one or more crystal phases. Simple theory (26) has supported the empirical relation for the permeabihty of a miscible blend. Equation 18 expresses this relation where is the permeabihty of the miscible blend and ( ) and are the volume fractions of polymer 1 and 2. 

Nucleation. Crystal nucleation is the formation of an ordered soHd phase from a Hquid or amorphous phase. Nucleation sets the character of the crystallization process, and it is, therefore, the most critical component ia relating crystallizer design and operation to crystal size distributions. 

In order to anticipate problems and to interpret observations under the extreme conditions of shock compression, it is necessary to consider structural and electronic characteristics of PVDF. Although the phenomenological piezoelectric properties of PVDF are similar to those of the piezoelectric crystals, the structure of the materials is far more complex due to its ferroelectric nature and a heterogeneous mixture of crystalline and amorphous phases which are strongly dependent on mechanical and electrical history. 

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