English Abstract

Materials Technology for Heterogeneous Polymer Systems Part ‡W. In-situ Observation of Polymer Processing

Kenzo FUKUMORI
Department of Applied Chemistry, Aichi Institute of Technology
Nippon Gomu Kyokaishi,(2024),97(7),211-228 General Review in Japanese

The structural formation behaviors during molding processes for practical polymers, such as crosslinking for rubbers and injection molding for thermoplastics, are often not well understood. In this Part ‡W , in-situ observation of the crosslinking and crystallization processes using synchrotron X-ray sources was introduced as a useful method to elucidate the temporal changes in structures, by adjusting the time resolution to match the processing times. Crosslinking reaction of sulfur-based rubber compounds was investigated by time-resolved X-ray adsorption fine structure (XAFS) measurements. The Zn K-edge XANES (X-ray absorption near-edge structure) spectra obtained during the crosslinking revealed that the decreasing behavior of the amount of zinc oxide (ZnO) give a good indicator of the crosslinking reaction, involving the transformation of ZnO into zinc sulfide (ZnS). In-situ observation of crystallization processes of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) during the injection molding was investigated by time-resolved wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) measurements. The changes in the WAXS patterns under various molding conditions such as mold temperature and injection speed were directly related to the crystallization behaviors of iPP.

Keywords: Polymer Processing, In-situ Observation, Synchrotron X-ray, X-ray Absorption Fine Structure, X-ray Scattering, Crosslinking, Crystallization