Effect of morphology and degree of crystallinity on the infrared absorption spectra of linear polyethylene

Lattice-Cluster-Theory-Informed Cross-Fractionation Chromatography Revealing Degree of Crystallinity of Single Macromolecular Species

The relationship between macromolecular architecture and crystallization properties is a relevant research topic in polymer science and technology. The average degree of crystallinity of disperse polymers is a well-studied quantity and is accessible by various experimental methods. However, how the different macromolecular species contribute to the degree of crystallinity and, in particular, the relationship between a certain macromolecular architecture and the degree of crystallinity are not accessible today, neither experimentally nor theoretically. Therefore, in this work, a lattice cluster theory (LCT)-informed cross-fractionation chromatography (CFC) approach is developed to access the degree of crystallinity of single and nonlinear macromolecular species crystallizing from solution. The method entangles high-throughput experimental data from CFC with the LCT for semicrystalline polymers to predict the degree of crystallinity of polymer species with different molecular weights and branching. The approach is applied to a linear low-density polyethylene (ethylene/1-octene copolymer) and a high-density polyethylene, which have specific and different bivariate distributions. The degree of crystallinity of individual macromolecular species of these polymer samples is calculated, and the predicted average degree of crystallinity is compared with experimental measurements, thus successfully validating the approach. Furthermore, the average segment length between branches is introduced as a characteristic molecular feature of branched polyethylene, and its relationship with the degree of crystallinity of certain species is established.

Detection of peroxy species in ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene by Raman spectroscopy

Samples of gamma-sterilized ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) have been examined using infrared and Raman spectroscopies. Infrared spectra of microtomed sections of a thick segment of material exhibited carbonyl bands whose intensity was consistent with published data. Raman spectroscopy has been used for the first time to detect oxidized precursors to the commonly found carbonyl species. Gamma-sterilized plates examined as soon as possible after sterilization exhibited bands consistent with epoxide, alcohol and three different peroxy-containing species. The detection of these species in irradiated UHMWPE is reported for the first time and demonstrates that oxidation of this material proceeds via a gamma-induced free radical mechanism, as has been widely assumed.