2D WAXS/SAXS study on isotactic propylene-1-butylene random copolymer subjected to uniaxial stretching: The influence of temperature

The influence of temperature on the crystallization process of isotactic propylene-1-butylene (P-B) random copolymer with low comonomer concentration subjected to uniaxial tensile force was studied in-situ by using synchrotron-based wide- and small-angle X-ray scattering techniques (WAXS/SAXS). Data analysis was performed on the whole-pattern base. P-B copolymer was stretched at three temperatures, i.e., 100 °C, 60 °C and 25 °C. Before stretching, the static sample contained both γ- and α-phase of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) homopolymer, with the γ-phase being the dominant crystal modification. When subjected to uniaxial stretching, γ-phase adopted a tilted cross-β configuration, with the c-axis forming a tilting angle with respect to the fiber axis at all temperatures. At 100 °C and 60 °C, γ-phase was transformed to α-phase with parallel orientation of polymer chains. Daughter lamellae of the α-phase were observed at 100 °C but not at 60 °C. At room temperature, large lamellar crystals could not be formed due to strong tensile force applied to the polymer network. Low temperature stretching was featured with the formation of mesomorphic phase which was composed of tiny β-form crystals and of about 50% of oriented amorphous phase. The c-axis of the β-form crystal was in parallel to the fiber axis. The crystals were so small that no ordered texture was observed at the length scale of nanometers.