Macromolecular structure thermal analysis

In this section the broad spectrum of melting of one-component macromolecular systems is described by means of several specific polymers. The description starts with polyethylene, the most analyzed polymer. It continues with two sections that present several special effects seen in the thermal analysis of polymers including some examples of detailed analyses by TMDSC, documenting the locally reversible melting and crystallization equilibrium within a globally metastable structure. Then illustrations of poly(oxymethylene) and PEEK are given as typical common polymeric materials. This is followed in the last section with the discussion of special effects seen in drawn polymers, as are commonly found in fibers and films. 

Attempts to give a quantitative analysis of plastisol extrusion were undertaken only in a few published papers. They were based on the analysis of plastisol viscosity as a function of temperature and time. If in the processing of thermosetting plastics their viscosity is assumed as practically independent of time (except of materials sensitive to structural and chemical transformation in temperature and stress fields which are accompanied by thermo-mechanical decomposition and cross-linking of macromolecular chains, the extent of the larter being influenced by the time of exposure to thermal and mechanical loads 18-21)), then at extrusion of plastisols, in view of their gelatination, the additional condition should be satisfield ... 

Physical characterization of macromolecular systems strives to determine chemical structure/property relationships. This subfield includes study of thermomechanical performance viscoelastic properties surface properties, adhesion science thermal transitions morphological analysis, including semicrystalline, amorphous, liquid-crystalline, and microphase-separated structures. Structural analysis employs electron microscopy, con-focal microscopy, optical microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and x-ray and neutron scattering of macromolecular compositions. 

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