Surfaces crystalline polymers

Polymer crystals most commonly take the form of folded-chain lamellae. Figure 3 sketches single polymer crystals grown from dilute solution and illustrates two possible modes of chain re-entry. Similar stmctures exist in bulk-crystallized polymers, although the lamellae are usually thicker. Individual lamellae are held together by tie molecules that pass irregularly between lamellae. This explains why it is difficult to obtain a completely crystalline polymer. Tie molecules and material in the folds at the lamellae surfaces cannot readily fit into a lattice. 

Coa.ting S. CR has been used to coat a variety of substrates, from cloth for rainwear to concrete decks for protection against salt water. A sol-type latex is preferred to ensure good adhesion to concrete decks. A crystalline polymer latex is preferred where added durabUity is needed. The compound includes a nonionic surfactant to improve its chemical stabUity. A number of thin coatings are appUed to the surface to allow better coverage and facUitate drying. A similar formulation could be used to coat the interior of tanks, but an accelerator is needed to improve toughness. 

In the case of crystalline polymers it may be that solvents can cause cracking by activity in the amorphous zone. Examples of this are benzene and toluene with polyethylene. In polyethylene, however, the greater problem is that known as environmental stress cracking , which occurs with materials such as soap, alcohols, surfactants and silicone oils. Many of these are highly polar materials which cause no swelling but are simply absorbed either into or on to the polymer. This appears to weaken the surface and allows cracks to propagate from minute flaws. 

Besides crystalline order and structure, the chain conformation and segment orientation of polymer molecules in the vicinity of the surface are also expected to be modified due to the specific interaction and boundary condition at the surface between polymers and air (Fig. 1 a). According to detailed computer simulations [127, 128], the chain conformation at the free polymer surface is disturbed over a distance corresponding approximately to the radius of gyration of one chain. The chain segments in the outermost layers are expected to be oriented parallel to the surface and chain ends will be enriched at the surface. Experiments on the chain conformation in this region are not available, but might be feasible with evanescent wave techniques described previously. Surface structure on a micrometer scale is observed with IR-ATR techniques [129],... 

We note here that all the information presently available on high molecular weight polymer crystal structures is compatible with the bundle model. While very nearly all crystalline polymer polymorphs involve all-parallel chain arrangements, even the only known exception, namely y-iPP [104,105], where chains oriented at 80° to each other coexist, is characterized by bilayers of parallel chains with opposite orientation. This structure is thus easily compatible with crystallization mechanisms involving deposition of bundles of 5-10 antiparallel stems on the growing crystal surface. Also the preferred growth... 

When describing erosion of and drug release from surface erodible polymers, it is often implicitly assumed that the matrix erodes uniformly, thus resulting in a uniform release profile for a homogenously dispersed drug. While this may be a valid assumption for some homopolymer systems, neglecting the effects of crystallinity, some multicomponent... 

The present procedure is certainly applicable to convert hydrophilic surfaces to hydrophobic, or to impart more sophisticated functionalities other than polar property to various polymer materials. From the view point of practical polymer processing, in particular, of chemically inert polyolefins or highly crystalline polymers, inhibitory effect of oxygen is a difficulty to be overcome. 

In semi-crystalline polymers the interaction of the matrix and the tiller changes both the structure and the crystallinity of the interphase. The changes induced by the interaction in bulk properties are reflected by increased nucleation or by the formation of a transcrystalline layer on the surface of anisotropic particles [48]. The structure of the interphase, however, differs drastically from that of the matrix polymer [49,50]. Because of the preferred adsorption of large molecules, the dimensions of crystalline units can change, and usually decrease. Preferential adsorption of large molecules has also been proved by GPC measurements after separation of adsorbed and non-attached molecules of the matrix [49,50]. Decreased mobility of the chains affects also the kinetics of crystallization. Kinetic hindrance leads to the development of small, imperfect crystallites, forming a crystalline phase of low heat of fusion [51]. 

Such information offers an opportunity to study details of the fibrillation mechanism. The fibers formed by stretching the spherulitic polymer representing nothing other than ribbon formations plastically deformed and oriented towards the mechanical stress that is released by comparatively weak mutual interconditions existing in an earlier formation (Figure 3). This behavior points to the existence of some weak surfaces in the crystalline polymers. Elements of the super-molecular structure detached by action of the external mechanical forces can slide on the weak surfaces. Evidence for the strain-destruction relationship must come from studies of the modification of the contact surfaces of two neighboring spherulites under mechanical stress. 

A conscious choice of such elements can be made but in general the equilibrium distribution of stress cannot be found except for particular geometries. The assumptions of uniform strain throughout the assembly or of uniform stress were respectively made by Voigt and by Reuss. Returning to the structures actually perceivable in polymers one may consider the spherulite in a semi crystalline polymer as being unsuitable as a RVE because the boundary is not included. However, an assembly of spherulites would be acceptable, since it would contain sufficient to make it entirely typical of the bulk and because such an assembly would have moduli independent of the surface tractions and displacements. The linear size of such a representative volume element of spherulites would be perhaps several hundred microns. 

Polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) (e.g. Ryton ) is a highly crystalline polymer with a melting point of 290 °C. It combines good mechanical properties with very high thermal and chemical resistance it is, moreover, self-extinguishing. It is, i.a., used as protective coating on metal surfaces. 

The relation of abrasion to friction appears from Figure 7.31, in which the abrasion is given as a function of temperature for some crystalline polymers. Temperature increase causes, from a certain temperature, a drastic increase in abrasion due to sticking together of the surfaces. 

The lamellar habit adopted by crystalline polymers adds surface terms to the specific Gibbs function (chemical potential), most importantly the fold surface free energy, ae, which contributes 2ae/Xg for a lamella of thickness k and crystalline density q. In consequence melting points are lowered from T, for infinite thickness, to Tm according to the Hoffman-Weeks equation... 

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