ISSN:
0887-6266
Keywords:
free volume
;
thermal expansion
;
positron lifetime measurements
;
semicrystalline polymers
;
polyethylene
;
polytetrafluoroethylene
;
Physics
;
Polymer and Materials Science
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Physics
Notes:
Positron lifetime measurements, performed in the temperature range 80-300 K, are reported for polyethylene (PE) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The lifetime spectra have been analyzed using the data processing routines LIFSPECFIT and MELT. Two long-lived components appear, which are attributed to pick-off annihilation of ortho-positronium in crystalline regions and at holes in the amorphous phase. The ortho-positronium lifetimes, τ3 and τ4, are used to estimate the crystalline packing density and the size of local free volumes in the crystalline and amorphous phases. The interstitial free volume in the crystals exhibits a weak linear increase with the temperature which is attributed to thermal expansion of the crystal unit cell. In the amorphous phase, the hole volume varies between 0.053 and 0.188 nm3 (PE) and between 0.152 and 0.372 nm3 (PTFE). Its temperature variation may be fitted by two straight lines, the intersection of which is used to estimate a glass transition temperature of Tg = 195 K for both PE and PTFE. The slopes of the free volume in the glassy and crystalline phases with the temperature correlate well with each other. The coefficients of thermal expansion of the hole volume are compared with the macroscopic volume change below and above the glass transition. From this comparison a fractional hole volume at Tg of 4.5 (PE) and 5.7% (PTFE) and a number of 0.73 (PE) and 0.36 (PTFE) × 1027 holes/m3 is estimated. Finally, it is found that the intensity of o-Ps annihilation in crystals shows a different temperature dependence to that in the amorphous phase. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36: 1513-1528, 1998
Additional Material:
11 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
