title: Atomic force microscopic study of the structure of high-density polyethylene deformed in liquid medium by crazing mechanism.
abstract: A procedure has been developed for the direct atomic force microscopic (AFM) examination of the native structure of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) deformed in an adsorption-active liquid medium (AALM) by the crazing mechanism. The AFM investigation has been carried out in the presence of a liquid medium under conditions preventing deformed films from shrinkage. Deformation of HDPE in AALM has been shown to proceed through the delocalized crazing mechanism and result in the development of a fibrillar-porous structure. The structural parameters of the crazed polymer have been determined. The obtained AFM images demonstrate a nanosized nonuniformity of the deformation and enable one to observe the structural rearrangements that take place in the deformed polymer after removal of the liquid medium and stress relaxation. A structural similarity has been revealed between HDPE deformed in the AALM and hard elastic polymers.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Chemistry, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: D V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Bagrov
authors.forename: A Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Yarysheva
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Rukhlya
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Yarysheva
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Volynskii
authors.forename: N F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Bakeev
keywords: Atomic force microscopy; crazing; fibrillar-porous structure of high-density polyethylene; high-density polyethylene