The effect of hot drawn on the physical aging of atactic polystyrene

The physical aging behavior of atactic polystyrene (aPS) films achieved under different drawing conditions has been studied by optical birefringence and modulate differential scanning: calorimeter (m.d.s.c.). The results show that on annealing at specific temperature below glass transition temperatue (T-g), the enthalpy relaxation (Delta H) and T-g decrease with increasing of birefringence (Delta n). On the other baud, the effect of molecular draw ratio (MDR) is confusing: Delta H and T-g decrease with increasing of MDR in the early stage of aging, but the MDR's effect become unobvious with the development of aging. It may be concluded that the ordered domain generated by the drawing below or above glass transition temperature will affect the development of physical aging behavior. The viewpoint of cohesional entanglement is used to account for the above observations.