Forms molecularly oriented

However, polymers with long flexible side groups or branches are difficult to form molecular orientation, and hence they are seldom used to make polymer fibers. Side groups found in polymer fibers typically are rigid and they can raise the... 

Mechanical Properties. Polyester fibers are formed by melt spinning generally followed by hot drawing and heat setting to the final fiber form. The molecular orientation and crystalline fine stmcture developed depend on key process parameters in all fiber formation steps and are critical to the end use appHcation of the fibers. 

In the studies carried out by one of the authors [52], the values of Ea and E were determined for PET fibers of the microfibrillar and of the lamellar substructure. The results have been presented in Tables 8 and 9. The results obtained show that for both types of substructure the resistance to deformation, that is, the value of E, depends on the degree of molecular orientation of the amorphous material of the fiber fa) and the density of this amorphous phase of the fiber da)- However, this dependence assumes a different form for the microfibrillar and for the lamellar substructure. In the first case, it has the form ... 

Ordered dialkoxy PPV derivative has been prepared by Yoshino et al. [491. oly(2 -nonoyloxy-1,4-phenylene vinylene) 27a forms a nematic liquid-crystalline phase upon melting. The material retains its order upon cooling to room temperature, and its band gap (2.08 eV) is measurably smaller than in an unoricnted sample. Oriented electroluminescence may be achieved by rubbing a thin fdin of the material to induce molecular orientation [50],... 

To avoid misunderstanding, it should be emphasized that if the transition from one type of crystallization to the other one is considered, this does not imply a transformation of crystals of one type into the other one during stretching. In contrast, if the molecule enters a folded-chain crystal, it is virtually impossible to extend it. In this case, we raise the question, which of the two crystallization mechanisms controls the process at each given value of molecular orientation in the melt (this value being kept constant in the crystallization process during subsequent cooling of the system). At /J < /3cr, only folded-chain crystals are formed whereas at / > only fibrillar crystals result at /8 /3cr, crystals of both types can be formed. 

Subsequently, it was appreciated that there are two major difficulties with this model potential. One was the observation that the width of the attractive well varied with the molecular orientations which is unrealistic [12]. Equally unrealistic is the prediction that the well depth depends only on the relative orientation of the two particles and not on their orientation with respect to the intermolecular vector (see Eq. 4). These difficulties were addressed by several groups [13] and culminated in the proposals by Gay and Berne [8] which are essentially ad hoc in character. To remove the angular variation of the width of the attractive well they changed the functional form from a dependence on the scaled distance (r/cr) (see Eq. 1) to a shifted and scaled separation R where... 

We begin, however, with the singlet orientational distribution function which is shown for the three liquid crystal phases in Fig. 6. In each phase the distribution is peaked at cos of 1 showing that the preferred molecular orientation is parallel to the director. The form of the distribution function is well represented by the relatively simple function... 

Nucleation can occur either homogeneously or heterogeneously. Homogeneous nucleation occurs when random molecular motion in the molten state results in the alignment of a sufficient number of chain segments to form a stable ordered phase, known as a nucleus. The minimum number of unit cells required to form a stable nucleus decreases as the temperature falls. Thus, the rate of nucleation increases as the temperature of the polymer decreases. The rate of homogeneous nucleation also increases as molecular orientation in the molten polymer increases. This is because the entropy difference between the molten and crystalline states diminishes as molecular alignment in the molten state increases. 

Molecular orientation increases the crystallization rate for two reasons the statistical probability of chain segments becoming suitably aligned to form a nucleus is increased and the entropic difference between the molten and crystalline states is reduced, which increases the driving force towards crystallization. 

Having said this, it was felt therefore that there is a need for a book addressing analysis and characterisation of polymers from the point of view of what we wish to call the primary analytical question. Many excellent textbooks and reference works exist which address one or more individual analytical techniques, see, for example, references [1-10]. These books form the basis of the knowledge of the technique expert. They also contain many excellent and varied examples on successful applications of analytical techniques to polymer analysis and characterisation. There are also books which address the multitude of analytical techniques applied in polymer analysis, see, for example, references [11-24], However, a synthetic chemist may wish to know the constitution of his/her polymer chain, a material scientist may want to find out the reasons why a fabricated sample had failed. What technique is best or optimal to study chain constitution will depend on the situation. Polymer failure may result from morphological features, which needs to be avoided, a contaminant, a surface property degradation, etc. When a sample has been processed, e.g., a film blown, molecular orientation may be the key parameter to be studied. A formulation scientist may wish to know why an additive from a different supplier performs differently. It is from such points of view that polymer analysis and characterisation is addressed in this book. 

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