ISSN:
1435-1536
Keywords:
Glass transition
;
quasielastic neutron scattering
;
polyethylene
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
Notes:
Abstract We have performed inelastic neutron scattering experiments on protonated and fully deuterated partially crystalline polyethylene. Using a high-resolution, three-axes spectrometer with an energy resolution of 80 μeV, it was possible to detect a quasielastic process in the dynamic structure factor with a FWHM of 0.3 meV. This process was shown to be active aboveT 0=260 K and its FWHM was nearly independent of temperature and scattering vector. The spatial extent of the underlying motional process was displacement increases strongly withT aboveT 0 up to 4 Å2 atT=380 K. Comparison with results from similar work on fully amorphous polymers suggests to relateT 0 to the glass transition of the amorphous phase in partially crystalline polyethylene. The coherent structure factor showns no evidence for a significant contribution of correlated motion to the process. A speculative explanation of the observed phenomenon as a non-equilibrium soft-mode is proposed.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00654170
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