The effect of annealing on the local structure of glassy polycarbonate

Mitchell, G.R. and Windle, A.H. (1985) The effect of annealing on the local structure of glassy polycarbonate. Colloid and Polymer Science, 263 (4). pp. 280-285. ISSN 1435-1536 doi: 10.1007/BF01412242

Abstract/Summary

Annealing of polycarbonate glasses at temperatures belowTg leads to an increase in yield stress and a drop in the impact strength. Although such behaviour may be related to the corresponding reduction in free volume upon annealing, variations in the wide-angle X-ray scattering curves indicate some modification to the local structure. The area of an intrachain peak at s ∼ 0.7 Å−1 is monitored with respect to annealing temperature and time. It is proposed that the variations may be described by an increasing level of interlocking or (nesting) between neighbouring chain segments, a process which is a natural consequence of the molecular shape of polycarbonate.