Re-exploring the Double-Melting Behavior of Semirigid-Chain Polymers with an in-situ Combination of Synchrotron Nano-Focus X-ray Scattering and Nanocalorimetryстатья
Статья опубликована в высокорейтинговом журнале
Статья опубликована в журнале из списка Web of Science и/или Scopus
Аннотация:A combination of nano-focus X-ray scattering and nanocalorimetry was used to reexplore
the phenomenon of multiple melting behavior of a typical semirigid-chain polymer,
poly(trimethylene terephthalate), PTT. The multiple melting of semirigid-chain polymers
constitutes one of the long-standing issues in polymer physics. By using very high heating and
cooling rates the micro-structure of PTT corresponding to different stages of melting has been
arrested by quenching it to room temperature. Although the recrystallization of PTT can be
largely precluded under these conditions, the nanocalorimetric curve exhibits two melting
events. By employing an in-situ small-angle X-ray scattering, SAXS, it is observed that the low-temperature melting peak corresponds to formation of streaky SAXS patterns. At this stage, the crystalline lamellar stacks lose their long-range order due to melting of the crystals confined in the smallest amorphous gaps, which can be explained by the negative stresses imposed on these crystals. This low-melting crystal fraction can be selectively molten away by performing a fast heating just above the corresponding melting point, and the subsequent heating does not reveal the double-melting behavior anymore. Therefore the phenomenon of the double (or multiple) melting behavior is not necessarily coupled to the melting-recrystallization processes and can be observed even in the absence of any recrystallization.