Microstructure of Banded Polymer Spherulites: Studies with Micro-Focus X-ray Diffraction

Abstract

Micro-beam X-ray diffraction has been used to investigate the texture of banded spherulites of melt-crystallized poly(trimethylene terephthalate), PTT, formed in films of approximately 30 to 50 μm thickness. The WAXS micro-diffraction patterns show that at the local scale, the PTT texture is close to that of a single crystal. In agreement with previous studies using selected-area electron diffraction, it is shown that the crystal growth direction is parallel to the a-axis of the unit cell. When plotted as a function of the distance to the spherulite center, the intensity of different diffraction peaks reveals the same periodicity. This means that the lamellar twist is strictly uniform. The latter observation is more compatible with the model explaining the twist as a result of unbalanced surface stresses than that of isochiral giant screw dislocations. The main features of the experimental diffractograms can be understood using the numerical approach, which is developed in the approximation of a purely geometric broadening of X-ray reflections. In particular, the simulation can predict the sequence of appearance of different diffraction peaks and their shape on the 2D micro-diffraction patterns.