STRUCTURAL ASPECTS OF SUSPENSION POLY(VINYL CHLORIDE) - SMALL-ANGLE NEUTRON-SCATTERING OF RIGID AND PLASTICIZED SUSPENSION PVC

A comprehensive SANS study on both rigid and plasticized suspension PVC demonstrates the presence of superstructural order in this polymer. Comparison of the experimental scattering invariant data with a tentative two-phase model points to specific penetration of the plasticizer in the noncrystalline regions of PVC. Thermal experiments manifest the gradual and thermoreversible melting of the crystalline regions at temperatures above 80-90-degrees-C. Uniaxial deformation experiments on plasticized PVC confirm the existence of a heterogeneous network-structure in PVC where the crystalline tie-points act as physical cross-links. The observed anisotropic ''butterfly'' scattering pattern of a uniaxially stretched sample indicates the formation of concentration inhomogeneities as a consequence of the random distribution of the crystalline tie-points in plasticized PVC. The anistropy of the scattering pattern gradually disappears on heating, probably resulting from the increasing mobility of the plasticized interstitial medium.