| Abstract: | The results obtained for poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) after 60Co γ‐ray irradiation, studied by wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and polarizing optical microscopy (POM), revealed that the degree of crystallinity, melting temperature and enthalpy decreased with increasing irradiation dose, but that the crystal structure of PBS did not vary when compared to non‐irradiated PBS. By using Scherrer equation, small changes occurred in the crystal sizes of L020, L110 and L111. The spherulitic morphology of PBS was strongly dependent on irradiation dose and changed significantly at higher irradiation dosages. The crystallization kinetics of PBS indicated that the Avrami exponent (n) for irradiated PBS was reduced to 2.3, when compared to non‐irradiated PBS (3.3). Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry |
