Semicrystalline polyethylene measurement by Polarized Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering

Orientation and conformation in nanoscale amorphous regions often dominates the properties of soft materials such as composites and semicrystalline polymers. In polyethylene (PE), interlamellar amorphous tie chains have been shown to substantially reduce the rate of slow crack growth, which is important for long service life in infrastructure elements such as potable water pipes. I will describe polarized resonant soft X-ray scattering (P-RSoXS) measurements of semicrystalline polyethylenes. The P-RSoXS of PE is highly anisotropic with respect to electric field vector and orientation of the amorphous interlamellar chains is a significant contributor. Real space models reproduce salient features of the P-RSoXS pattern including trends in anisotropy with energy, trends in anisotropy with q, and a clear long period peak. Prospects for correlating interlamellar orientation measurements by P-RSoXS with tie chain population and crack growth will be discussed.