Observations on small‐angle interference maxima in synthetic organic polymers

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Abstract
Off‐meridian small‐angle x‐ray interference maxima and multiple orders of small‐angle interference maxima have been observed for certain synthetic high polymer fibers including polythene, polyamides, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyvinyl alcohol. The observations indicate that the ordering of the structures responsible for small‐angle diffraction may be two‐ or three‐dimensional rather than one‐dimensional and that such ordering must extend over larger volumes of space than previously published data would indicate. The fibers must be given relaxation treatments to form the structures that result in small‐angle maxima except for polythene in which they appear merely on orientation. The relaxation treatments increase the crystallite size as shown by large‐angle pictures and modify the positions and shapes of the small‐angle maxima. An increase in the degree of relaxation increases the intensity of the interference and increases the magnitude of the interplanar spacing except for polyvinyl alcohol, in which the interplanar spacing is not affected. Samples of 66 nylon, which varied in molecular weight from 26,000 to 200,000 gave identical small‐angle interference patterns within the limits of accuracy.

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