Real-Time SAXS and WAXS Study of the Multiple Melting Behavior of Poly(ε-caprolactone)

The multiple melting behavior of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) was investigated by real-time small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) measurements coupling with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Semicrystalline specimens prepared by a continuous cooling process showed lengthening of the Bragg period during the progress of double melting. A model of variable thickness of lamella was proposed to fit to the SAXS patterns and revealed that both the crystalline lamella and the amorphous layer contributed to the increase in Bragg period while the later dominated the contribution. The model of variable thickness although satisfied the SAXS data was unable to compromise the data from other probing tools. A modification of the model proposed that each lamella piling up to construct the stacks in the crystallites was itself nonuniform in thickness. The modification with the parallel occurrence of the mechanism of surface melting and crystallization successfully compromised the observations from SAXS, DSC, and optical microscopy and provided a new perspective for the explanation to lengthening of the Bragg period related to multiple melting behavior. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 1777-1785, 2010