Film foration and crystallization kinetics of polychloroprene studied by an ultrasonic shear wave reflection method

Abstract

We report the application of an ultrasonic shear wave reflection technique for the investigation of film formation and crystallization kinetics of one amorphous and two semicrystalline polychloroprene samples with different gel content. Both isothermal and temperature-dependent measurements of the complex dynamic shear modulus (G* = G′ + iG″) have been performed at a frequency of 5.32 MHz. The process of film formation during the evaporation of water is expressed by a stepwise increase of the shear modulus. For the semicrystalline samples a further increase, which is due to crystallization, can be observed. Film formation and crystallization are delayed for the sample with high gel content and its minor final modulus is explained by a lower degree of crystallinity. The time-dependent increase of the shear modulus due to the growth of spherulites has been analyzed by the Avrami equation combined with the Kerner model for the modulus of a two-phase composite (spherulites in an amorphous matrix). The dynamic shear modulus for the spherulites has been estimated by a model introduced by Halpin and Kardos. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36: 2949–2959, 1998