On the determination of the crystalline fraction of polyethylenes from X‐ray diffraction

Abstract

Abstract It is demonstrated that the various procedures recommended in the literature for the determination of the crystalline fraction in polyethylene specimens by means of X‐ray diffraction lead to consistent results if certain errors made by some of the previous authors are avoided. A simple procedure which is not inferior to other more elaborate ones and does not require corrections for L ORENTZ factor, polarization or incoherent radiation is presented. It is easily adaptable for routine work. Attention is drawn to the observed close correlation between crystallinity and line width of the crystalline interferences.