STRUCTURE OF SOME ETHYLENE-PHOSPHONIC ACID COPOLYMERS

An x-ray study has been made of the structure of a series of ethylene-phosphonic acid copolymers and the parent low-density PE from which they were derived. Small-angle x-ray scattering results show that the phosphonic acid substituents do not incorporate into the crystal lattice to any appreciable extent, that the substituents have the effect of decreasing the average thickness of the crystal lamellae and increasing the breadth of the size distribution of thicknesses. Wide-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS) results show that specimens are partially crystalline with the polyethylene crystal structure and partially amorphous.