Novel FTIR method for determining the crystallinity of poly(?-caprolactone)

By employing Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and curve–fitting techniques, the degree of crystallinity of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) aged at room temperature for 1 month was estimated to be 49 ± 2 %. The degree of crystallinity determined by FTIR in this work is comparable with those found by other conventional techniques. It is suggested that the FTIR procedure established here for the crystallinity determination of PCL should also be suitable for the quantitative analysis of solid-state morphology of polymers containing carbonyl or other functional groups. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry