An X-Ray Investigation of Crystallinity in Rubber

Abstract

Abstract The crystalline structure which rubber exhibits under certain circumstances has come to be regarded as associated with a secondary or micellar structure of long chain molecules. The exact mechanism by which the localized ordered regions appear is a speculative subject in recent developments of the micellar theory of long chain polymeric materials. The views of various workers on this subject have been summarized by other authors. The crystalline structure of rubber displays varying degrees and types of orientation of the crystal units, depending on the conditions under which crystallization occurs. The amorphous x-ray diffraction pattern of unstretched rubber is shown in Figure 1, the unoriented crystalline diagram for frozen rubber in Figure 2. When crystallization is induced by stretching, the crystallites are aligned along the axis of stretching, giving the fiber diagrams of Figures 3 and 4. In this case there is random orientation of the other two axes of the crystallites. “Higher orientation,” in which all three axes of the crystallites are aligned, gives the diagram of Figure 15 and can be secured with suitable dimensions of the stretched piece.