Simultaneous time-resolved synchrotron X-ray scattering studies on block copoly(ether-urethane) phase behaviour

Abstract New experimental techniques for the characterisation of the thermal-morphological properties of materials have been developed at Daresbury. Many thermal events, for example, melting endotherms, are signals of changes in morphology covering size scales from the atomic to the microscopic, that isAto μm. There are several advantages in collecting both the wide angle (1 to 20A) and small angle (20 to 1000A) patterns simultaneously, along with the DSC trace, to unambiguously characterise such thermal events. New apparatus has been built at Daresbury, consisting of a modified Linkam DSC hot-stage mounted in a combined SAXS/WAXS camera to carry out such studies. In addition, equipment has been assembled to assess the feasibility of combining FTIR and SAXS/WAXS to study structural changes in various poly(ether urethane)s.