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Revisit of crystal orientation in a vulcanizate of natural rubber under planar elongation

Polymer Journal (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

The orientation of the crystalline lattice formed as a consequence of strain-induced crystallization (SIC) was revisited for a natural rubber (NR) sheet undergoing planar elongation by being stretched in one direction while keeping the other dimension unchanged. For this purpose, two-dimensional wide-angle X-ray diffraction patterns were measured by changing the inclination angle of the incident X-ray beam to the specimen sheet. The intensity of the reflection from the (120) plane of the orthorhombic crystal increased with increasing inclination angle from the normal direction of the specimen sheet; this result indicated that the orientation of the (120) planes was parallel to the surface of the specimen sheet. Moreover, the intensity of the (200) plane reflection reached a maximum at a slightly inclined angle from the normal of the specimen surface. WAXD measurements were also conducted using different X-ray wavelengths (0.06, 0.10, and 0.15 nm) to evaluate the inclined angle of the ac plane with respect to the surface of the specimen. By changing the X-ray wavelength, the distribution of reciprocal lattice points was altered such that the inclined angle of the incident X-ray beam to the specimen sheet needed to be changed to meet the diffraction condition. The inclined angle at the maximum intensity of the (200) reflection increased as a function of the X-ray wavelength. Based on this result, the preferential orientation of the ac planes was determined, whereby the ac plane was not completely parallel to the surface of the specimen sheet but was slightly inclined by 6.4°. Thus, a dual orientational state was deduced. Therefore, the preferential orientation of the ac plane was nearly parallel to the surface of the specimen sheet, with the inclined angle ranging from 6.4° to 19.6° within the volume of the specimen irradiated by the incident X-ray beam.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by JST CREST (Grant No. JPMJCR2091). The WAXD experiments were performed at Photon Factory, KEK, Japan (under the Approval No. 2020G512 and 2020G516) and SPring-8, JASRI, Japan (under the Approval No. 2023A7213).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biobased Materials Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto, 606-8585, Japan

    Ruito Tanaka, Tomohiro Yasui & Shinichi Sakurai

  2. High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0801, Japan

    Hideaki Takagi, Nobutaka Shimizu & Noriyuki Igarashi

  3. SPring-8, Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI), Kouto 1-1-1, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo, 679-5198, Japan

    Hiroyasu Masunaga

  4. Sustainable and Advanced Materials Division, Bridgestone Corporation, Ogawahigashi-cho 3-1-1, Kodaira City, 187-8531, Tokyo, Japan

    Yuji Kitamura & Katsuhiko Tsunoda

  5. Department of Material Chemistry, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 615-8510, Japan

    Thanh-Tam Mai & Kenji Urayama

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  1. Ruito Tanaka
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Tanaka, R., Yasui, T., Takagi, H. et al. Revisit of crystal orientation in a vulcanizate of natural rubber under planar elongation. Polym J (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-024-00910-z

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