AN ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUE FOR MEASURING RELATIVE TIE-MOLECULE CONCENTRATION IN POLYETHYLENE

While consideration of the crystalline domains have long dominated research in understanding the properties of semicrystalline polymers, a satisfactory understanding of crack growth in these materials can only be realized by developing corresponding analytical tools to characterize the amorphous region. Since slow stable cracks in these materials preferentially form between crystalline lamellae, the role of tie molecules-the amorphous chains that bridge crystalline lamellae-are particularly important in this regard. Unfortunately, there is no method readily available for quantitative assessment of tie molecules. Through deformation and subsequent chlorination of polyethylene films, it is demonstrated that infrared dichroism can be used to determine relative tie-molecule concentration. Using this technique, one can a priori predict which resin in a series having comparable densities but widely varying molecular weights or comonomer distributions exhibits better crack resistance.