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Therefore, this polymer relies solely on physical anchor points. When heated up to Tg, the material abruptly changes from a rigid state to a tapered state (softens). To achieve the effect, the shape must be changed rapidly to avoid rearrangement of the segments of the polymer chains and immediately cool the material also very rapidly below Tg.
In polymers the glass transition temperature, T g, is often expressed as the temperature at which the Gibbs free energy is such that the activation energy for the cooperative movement of 50 or so elements of the polymer is exceeded [citation needed]. This allows molecular chains to slide past each other when a force is applied.
The Flory–Fox equation relates the number-average molecular weight, M n, to the glass transition temperature, T g, as shown below: =, where T g,∞ is the maximum glass transition temperature that can be achieved at a theoretical infinite molecular weight and K is an empirical parameter that is related to the free volume present in the polymer sample.
The physical origin of the non-Arrhenius behavior of fragile glass formers is an area of active investigation in glass physics. Advances over the last decade have linked this phenomenon with the presence of locally heterogeneous dynamics in fragile glass formers; i.e. the presence of distinct (if transient) slow and fast regions within the material.
Changes in an amorphous polymer may involve other sub-Tg thermal transitions associated with short molecular segments, side-chains and branches. The linearity of the sf-TM curve will be changed by such transitions. Other relaxations may be due to release of internal stress arising from the non-equilibrium state of the glassy amorphous polymer.
Crystallization affects optical, mechanical, thermal and chemical properties of the polymer. The degree of crystallinity is estimated by different analytical methods and it typically ranges between 10 and 80%, with crystallized polymers often called "semi-crystalline". The properties of semi-crystalline polymers are determined not only by the ...
The degradation process is erosive and appears to take place in two steps during which the polymer is converted back to its monomer glycolic acid: first water diffuses into the amorphous (non-crystalline) regions of the polymer matrix, cleaving the ester bonds; the second step starts after the amorphous regions have been eroded, leaving the ...
It is a synthetic acrylate polymer derived from butyl acrylate monomer. The polymers are colorless. This homopolymer is far less important than copolymers derived from methyl acrylate and other monomers. It has a low glass-transition temperature of about -43 °C (20 °C). [clarification needed]