TIT# Nanostructure development in multicomponent polymer systems characterized
     by synchrotron X-ray scattering
AUT# Dencheva, Nadya; Stribeck, Almut; Denchev, Zlatan;
SOU# Eur. Polym. J. (2016), 81, 447-469
DOI# 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2016.02.004
LOC# xv156 @ xv156.pdf
CLA#
COM#
APP#
MAT#
ABS# Modern synchrotron beamlines equipped with two-dimensional detectors and
     high-flux microfocus devices offer interesting possibilities for polymer
     characterization. This work presents three synchrotron X-ray studies
     performed in specific multicomponent polymer systems. In the first study,
     quantification of transcrystallinity in microfibrillar composites (MFC)
     by wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) and a direct relation between the
     mechanical properties of the composites and the thickness of the
     transcrystalline layers is presented. The second study demonstrates
     monitoring of nanostructure development under controlled strain in MFC
     and their precursors by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). A specially
     developed procedure for data treatment that uses the Chord Distribution
     Function formalism permitted to prove reversible strain-induced
     crystallization of matrix material in the MFC materials. In the third
     study, a 5 x 5 æm high flux X-ray beam was used to scan in WAXS mode
     polymer microcapsules (average diameters of 20-50 æm) with polyamide
     shells in which various solid payloads were incorporated by in-situ
     polymerization. Exfoliation/intercalation phenomena and local
     inhomogeneity at micron scale are studied in clay and metal containing
     polyamide microcapsules that constitute a new platform for the
     development of polymer hybrids or smart micro devices. It was concluded
     that relating microscopy and/or mechanical data of various polymer
     samples to their synchrotron WAXS/SAXS patterns helps to understand the
     structure-properties relationship in complex polymer systems with #
     controlled composition, morphology and nanostructure.