Structure and phase state of polymers

Abstract In order to determine the structure and phase state of polymers and to define the spacing of molecular groups of atoms of which molecules of the substance under investigation consist, it is necessary to estimate the mutual distribution of macromolecules. The results of a number of investigations carried out by the electron microscope and by direct structural techniques make it possible to obtain such an estimation. In this work the formation of ordered structures in amorphous polymers has been found by investigating solutions of polymers with the electron microscope. The study of thin oriented films of polymers by the above method confirms the possibility of mutual distribution of amorphous polymer chains and of crystallizable polymer chains after destroying the crystals. In investigating thin films of crystallizable polymers by the x‐ray and the electron diffraction techniques at temperatures above and below the crystallization temperatures, a high degree of ordering has been found for the amorphous state of these polymers, too. From the data obtained, the conclusion is to be drawn that a fair mutual ordering of chain molecules can arise even in the amorphous state of polymers. Crystallization of polymers is but the last step in the process of mutual ordering of chain molecules.