Diffraction modelling of poly(vinyl chloride): An approach to the crystallinity enigma

Abstract

AbstractThis paper demonstrates that changes which are seen to occur in experimental X‐ray diffraction patterns of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) with varying sample tacticity are indicative of a crystal structure in which both isotactic and syndiotactic sequences are incorporated within the same lattice. The isotactic sequences are in a conformation first suggested by Juijn et al. which enables them to emulate the shape of the syndiotactic chain. We present a short summary of molecular and diffraction modelling results which show how the intensities of the 200 and 110 peaks change with crystallite tacticity. The results provide a rational explanation for the long standing enigma that the observed crystallinity of atactic PVC is too high to be accounted for in terms of crystallization of syndiotactic sequences only.