The two-phase nanostructure of many plastics materials is causing their peculiar physical properties. In semicrystalline polymers size and distribution of crystalline domains determines the hardness of the material. In thermoplastic elastomers the elastic properties are a function of the purity of the solidified glassy phase (hard domains) (phase separation).
Typical dimensions of the studied domains are ranging from 3 nm to 300 nm.
Utilizing brilliant synchrotron radiation, we study changes of the morphology of the nanocomposite material during melting and recrystallization as well as during straining and fibre spinning. We register morphological changes caused by solid or liquid extenders and are intensely involved in the task to gain a clear understanding of processes and structures related to materials properties by developing methods for the quantitive, multi-dimensional analysis of nanostructure data from X-ray methods.
