Eur. Phys. J. E (2013) 36: 24
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2013-13024-1

Regular Article

Localized translational motions in semicrystalline poly(ethylene terephthalate) studied by incoherent quasielastic neutron scattering

¹⁹⁸³⁸ Instituto de Estructura de la Materia, IEM-CSIC, Serrano 121, 28006, Madrid, Spain
²⁹⁸³⁸ Institut Laue-Langevin, BP 156-38042, Grenoble Cedex 9, France
³⁹⁸³⁸ Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragón ICMA-CSIC (CSIC-Universidad de Zaragoza), C/Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain

^* e-mail: alejandro.sanz@csic.es

Received: 26 October 2012
Revised: 25 January 2013
Accepted: 21 February 2013
Published online: 19 March 2013

Abstract

One of the simplest ways to confine polymeric materials is by self-assembling during the crystallization process. The remaining amorphous phase is then constrained by the lamellar crystals. In this manuscript, we aim to shed additional light in the understanding of the amorphous chains dynamics of semicrystalline polymers above the T_g by using incoherent quasielastic neutron scattering QENS in a nanoscopic time scale (10^-9-10^-10s) on poly(ethylene terephthalate). The observed dynamics is satisfactorily described by a theoretical model that considers that the proton mobility follows a random jump-diffusion in a restricted environment. We demonstrate that the combination of macroscopic with nanoscopic dynamic tools allows a complete description of the confined dynamics on a paradigmatic semicrystalline polymer like poly(ethylene terephthalate).