Real-time measurement of crystallization process of polymers by pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance

Abstract

Real-time measurement of the crystallization process of polymers [poly(ε-caprolactone) and its blend with poly(vinyl methyl ether) and polystyrene] by pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance has been made. The measurements on both the spin-spin relaxation time T2 and the spin-lattice relaxation time in the rotating frame T*1 ρ have been performed for the first time. From the data, we can obtain information on the temporal change of the crystallinity as well as the change of the mobility in each phase. Furthermore, the temporal change of the intermediate phase corresponding to the interface between crystalline and amorphous part has been successfully detected.