EFFECT OF NONRANDOM POLYMER CHAIN ORIENTATION IN THICKNESS DIRECTION ON INFRARED ABSORPTION MEASUREMENTS

The dependence of infrared band intensities on the amount of preferential polymer chain orientation normal to the plane of the film in polymer samples has been calculated. The effect of tilting the sample in the incident beam has also been derived. These theoretical results dictate a simple infrared method of determining the amount of preferential chain orientation and a procedure for minimizing the effects of orientation on the band intensities. The theoretical predictions have been confirmed by measurements on solution cast films of poly(ethylene oxide) of varying molecular weight. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.