TY - JOUR
T1 - Polarization modulated infrared spectroscopy
T2 - A pragmatic tool for polymer science and engineering
AU - Looijmans, Stan F.S.P.
AU - Carmeli, Enrico
AU - Puskar, Ljiljana
AU - Ellis, Gary
AU - Cavallo, Dario
AU - Anderson, Patrick D.
AU - van Breemen, Lambèrt C.A.
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - In the area of polymer crystallization, the most widely used techniques to quantify structure, morphology and molecular orientation are fundamentally based on light or X-ray scattering and absorption. In particular, synchrotron X-rays are used for detailed studies on the semicrystalline structure in polymeric materials. The technical requirements for such techniques, especially when high spatial resolution is essential, make the application of X-ray diffraction not straightforward. Direct information on the chain orientation in different semicrystalline morphologies requires rather complex sampling and analysis procedures. Surprisingly, a simple yet versatile technique based on infrared spectroscopy is hardly applied in the field of polymer crystallization. By modulating the polarization of the incident light, local anisotropy can be studied in real time on a submolecular length scale. In this article, we provide the relevant details of the polarization modulated infrared microspectroscopy technique for the study of semicrystalline materials from an engineering perspective. We demonstrate the essence of the method using as model systems spherulitic and transcrystalline morphologies and present its applicability to polymer/fiber composite technology and the study of injection-molded parts. The results provided in the present work serve to illustrate the applicability of this informative technique in the field of semicrystalline polymer science.
AB - In the area of polymer crystallization, the most widely used techniques to quantify structure, morphology and molecular orientation are fundamentally based on light or X-ray scattering and absorption. In particular, synchrotron X-rays are used for detailed studies on the semicrystalline structure in polymeric materials. The technical requirements for such techniques, especially when high spatial resolution is essential, make the application of X-ray diffraction not straightforward. Direct information on the chain orientation in different semicrystalline morphologies requires rather complex sampling and analysis procedures. Surprisingly, a simple yet versatile technique based on infrared spectroscopy is hardly applied in the field of polymer crystallization. By modulating the polarization of the incident light, local anisotropy can be studied in real time on a submolecular length scale. In this article, we provide the relevant details of the polarization modulated infrared microspectroscopy technique for the study of semicrystalline materials from an engineering perspective. We demonstrate the essence of the method using as model systems spherulitic and transcrystalline morphologies and present its applicability to polymer/fiber composite technology and the study of injection-molded parts. The results provided in the present work serve to illustrate the applicability of this informative technique in the field of semicrystalline polymer science.
KW - infrared spectroscopy
KW - polarization modulation
KW - structure and morphology
KW - synchrotron radiation
KW - vibrational linear dichroism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097745718&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/pcr2.10138
DO - 10.1002/pcr2.10138
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85097745718
VL - 3
JO - Polymer Crystallization
JF - Polymer Crystallization
SN - 2573-7619
IS - 6
M1 - e10138
ER -