Table of Contents

Preface xiii
List of Contributors xv

Part I Principles and Methods of Characterization 1

1 Overview and Prospects of Polymer Morphology 3
Jerold M. Schultz

1.1 Introductory Remarks 3
1.2 Experimental Avenues of Morphological Research 4
1.3 Modeling and Simulation 8
1.4 Wishful Thinking 11
1.5 Summary 11

2 X-ray Diffraction from Polymers 14
N. Sanjeeva Murthy

2.1 Introduction 14
2.2 Basic Principles 14
2.3 Instrumentation 16
2.4 Structure Determination 17
2.5 Phase Analysis 19
2.6 Crystallite Size and Disorder 21
2.7 Orientation Analysis 22
2.8 Small-Angle Scattering 25
2.9 Specialized Measurements 30
2.10 Summary 33

3 Electron Microscopy of Polymers 37
Goerg H. Michler and Werner Lebek

3.1 Introduction 37
3.2 Microscopic Techniques 37
3.3 Sample Preparation 47
3.4 In situ Microscopy 50

4 Characterization of Polymer Morphology by Scattering Techniques 54
Jean-Michel Guenet

4.1 Introduction 54
4.2 A Short Theoretical Presentation 55
4.3 Experimental Aspects 60
4.4 Typical Results 62
4.5 Concluding Remarks 69

5 Differential Scanning Calorimetry of Polymers 72
Alejandro J. Müller and Rose Mary Michell

5.1 Introduction to Differential Scanning Calorimetry. Basic Principles and Types of DSC Equipment 72
5.2 Detection of First-Order and Second-Order Transitions by DSC. Applications of Standard DSC Experiments to the Determination of the Glass Transition Temperature and the Melting Temperature of Polymeric Materials 74
5.3 Self-Nucleation 75
5.4 Thermal Fractionation 78
5.5 Multiphasic Materials: Polymer Blends and Block Copolymers. Fractionated Crystallization and Confinement Effects 81
5.6 Self-Nucleation and the Efficiency Scale to Evaluate Nucleation Power 91
5.7 Determination of Overall Isothermal Crystallization by DSC 95
5.8 Conclusions 95

6 Imaging Polymer Morphology using Atomic Force Microscopy 100
Holger Schönherr

6.1 Introduction 100
6.2 Fundamental AFM Techniques 101
6.3 Imaging of Polymer Morphology 107
6.4 Property Mapping 113

7 FTIR Imaging of Polymeric Materials 118
S. G. Kazarian and K. L. A. Chan

7.1 Introduction 118
7.2 Principles of FTIR Imaging 118
7.3 Sampling Methods 120
7.4 Spatial Resolution 122
7.5 Recent Applications 124
7.6 Conclusions 127

8 NMR Analysis of Morphology and Structure of Polymers 131
Takeshi Yamanobe and Hiroki Uehara

8.1 Introduction 131
8.2 Basic Concepts in NMR 131
8.3 Morphology and Relaxation Behavior of Polyethylene 134
8.4 Morphology and Structure of the Nascent Powders 137
8.5 Kinetics of Dynamic Process of Polymers 141
8.6 Conclusions 146

Part II Morphology Properties and Processing 151

9 Small-Angle X-ray Scattering for Morphological Analysis of Semicrystalline Polymers 153
Anne Seidlitz and Thomas Thurn-Albrecht

9.1 Introduction 153
9.2 Small-angle X-ray Scattering 153
9.3 Concluding Remarks 162

10 Crystalline Morphology of Homopolymers and Block Copolymers 165
Shuichi Nojima and Hironori Marubayashi

10.1 Introduction 165
10.2 Crystalline Morphology of Homopolymers 165
10.3 Crystalline Morphology of Block Copolymers 171
10.4 Concluding Remarks 176

11 Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Polymers 181
Alejandro J. Müller Rose Mary Michell and Arnaldo T. Lorenzo

11.1 Introduction 181
11.2 Crystallization Process 182
11.3 Crystallization Kinetics 182
11.4 Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics–Morphology Relationship 191
11.5 Conclusions 201

12 Surface-induced Polymer Crystallization 204
Xiaoli Sun and Shouke Yan

12.1 Introduction 204
12.2 Influence of Foreign Surface on the Crystallization Kinetics of Polymers 205
12.3 Influence of Foreign Surface on the Crystal Structure and Morphology of Polymers 205
12.4 Bulk Crystallization of Polymers in Contact with a Foreign Surface 226
12.5 Summary 234

13 Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Polymer Crystallization 242
Wenbing Hu and Liyun Zha

13.1 Introduction 242
13.2 Thermodynamics of Polymer Crystallization 242
13.3 Crystal Nucleation 247
13.4 Crystal Growth 251
13.5 Crystal Annealing 254
13.6 Summary 255

14 Self-Assembly and Morphology in Block Copolymer Systems with Specific Interactions 259
Anbazhagan Palanisamy and Qipeng Guo

14.1 Introduction 259
14.2 Block Copolymer Systems with Hydrogen Bonding Interaction in Solid State 260
14.3 Block Copolymer Systems with Hydrogen-Bonding Interaction in Solution 268
14.4 Block Copolymer Systems with Ionic Interaction 275
14.5 Block Copolymer Blends via Metal–Ligand Coordination Bonds 278
14.6 Concluding Remarks 278

15 Dynamics Simulations of Microphase Separation in Block Copolymers 283
Xuehao He Xuejin Li Peng Chen and Haojun Liang

15.1 Introduction 283
15.2 Polymer Model and Simulation Algorithm 284
15.3 Dynamics of Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers 287
15.4 Outlook 294

16 Morphology Control of Polymer thin Films 299
Jiangang Liu Xinhong Yu Longjian Xue and Yanchun Han

16.1 Wetting 299
16.2 Thin Film of Polymer Blend 304
16.3 The Introduction of Polymer Blend Film in Solar Cells 307
16.3.4 Construct the Relationship Between Film Morphology and Device Performance 312
16.4 Summary and Outlook 313

17 Polymer Surface Topography and Nanomechanical Mapping 317
Hao Liu So Fujinami Dong Wang Ken Nakajima and Toshio Nishi

17.1 Introduction 317
17.2 Contact Mechanics 317
17.3 Application of Contact Mechanics to Experimental Data 321
17.4 Application Examples 323
17.5 Conclusion 331

18 Polymer Morphology and Deformation Behavior 335
Masanori Hara

18.1 Introduction 335
18.2 Deformation Behavior of Amorphous Polymers 336
18.3 Deformation Behavior of Semicrystalline Polymers 339
18.4 Deformation Behavior of Block Copolymers 342
18.5 Conclusions and Outlook 345

19 Morphology Development in Immiscible Polymer Blends 348
Ruth Cardinaels and Paula Moldenaers

19.1 Introduction 348
19.2 Morphology Development in Bulk Flow 350
19.3 Recent Advances in Polymer Blends 363
19.4 Conclusions 367

20 Processing Structure and Morphology in Polymer Nanocomposites 374
Duraccio Donatella Clara Silvestre Sossio Cimmino Antonella Marra and Marilena Pezzuto

20.1 Overview 374
20.2 Nanoparticles with One Dimension Less Than 100 nm (Layered Silicates) 375
20.3 Nanoparticles with Two Dimensions Less Than 100 nm (Carbon Nanotubes) 377
20.4 Nanoparticles with Three Dimensions Less Than 100 nm (Metal Metal Oxide) 380
20.5 Preparative Methods 382
20.6 Structure and Morphology of Polymer Nanocomposites 385
20.7 Concluding Remarks 388

21 Morphology and Gas Barrier Properties of Polymer Nanocomposites 397
Abbas Ghanbari Marie-Claude Heuzey Pierre J. Carreau and Minh-Tan Ton-That

21.1 Introduction 397
21.2 Structure of Layered Silicates 397
21.3 Morphologies of Polymer-Layered Silicate Composites 398
21.4 Nanocomposite Preparation Methods 398
21.5 Challenges of Thermal Degradation in Melt Intercalation 400
21.6 Methods for Improving Gas Barrier Properties of Polymers 403
21.7 Polyamide Nanocomposites 405
21.8 Polyolefin Nanocomposites 405
21.9 Pet Nanocomposites 406
21.10 Polylactide Nanocomposites 413
21.11 Conclusions and Perspectives 414

22 Features on the Development and Stability of Phase Morphology in Complex Multicomponent Polymeric Systems: Main Focus on Processing Aspects 418
Charef Harrats Maria-Beatrice Coltelli and Gabriel Groeninckx

22.1 Introduction 418
22.2 Phase Morphology Development in Polymer Blends 419
22.3 Melt Processing of Polymer Blends 423
22.4 Chemistry Involved in Polymer Blends 426

References 436
Index 439

About the Author

Qipeng Guo, DSc, DEng, is the chair professor in polymer science and technology at Deakin University, Australia, where he was awarded a Personal Chair in recognition of his distinguished achievements and international reputation in polymer research,  involving both the fundamental principles in polymer science and the development of new polymer materials. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Chemistry.