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A universal blown film apparatus for in situ X-ray measurements

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Abstract

A setup of blown film machine combined with in situ synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction measurements and infrared temperature testing is reported to study the structure evolution of polymers during film blowing. Two homemade auto-lifters are constructed and placed under the blown machine at each end of the beamline platform which move up and down with a speed of 0.05 mm/s bearing the 200 kg weight machine. Therefore, structure development and temperature changes as a function of position on the film bubble can be obtained. The blown film machine is customized to be conveniently installed with precise servo motors and can adjust the processing parameters in a wide range. Meanwhile, the air ring has been redesigned in order to track the structure information of the film bubble immediately after the melt being extruded out from the die exit. Polyethylene (PE) is selected as a model system to verify the feasibility of the apparatus and the in situ experimental techniques. Combining structure information provided by the WAXD and SAXS and the actual temperature obtained from the infrared probe, a full roadmap of structure development during film blowing is constructed and it is helpful to explore the molecular mechanism of structure evolution behind the film blowing processing, which is expected to lead to a better understanding of the physics in polymer processing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Synchrotron Radiation Lab and College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230029, China

    Rui Zhang, You-xin Ji  (纪又新), Qian-lei Zhang, Jian-zhu Ju, Ali Sarmad, Li-fu Li, Hao-yuan Zhao & Liang-bin Li  (李良彬)

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  1. Rui Zhang
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  2. You-xin Ji  (纪又新)
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  3. Qian-lei Zhang
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  4. Jian-zhu Ju
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  5. Ali Sarmad
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  6. Li-fu Li
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  7. Hao-yuan Zhao
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  8. Liang-bin Li  (李良彬)
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to You-xin Ji  (纪又新) or Liang-bin Li  (李良彬).

Additional information

This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Plan of China (2016YFB0302501).

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Zhang, R., Ji, Yx., Zhang, Ql. et al. A universal blown film apparatus for in situ X-ray measurements. Chin J Polym Sci 35, 1508–1516 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-017-2000-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-017-2000-z

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