Molecular probe studies of crystallinity in polyethylene

The molecular probe technique uses a standard gas chromatograph modified to obtain a printed digital record of retention time vs. column temperature to be obtained automatically. From this the observed specific retention time, V_g, can be calculated. If V_g is the theoretical value it can be deduced that: % Crystallinity = [1 ? V_g/V_g′ ] × 100. Experimental results using Tenite 800 and Tenite 3310 polyethylene produced and sold by Eastman Chemical Products Inc., Kingsport, Tennessee, U.S.A. justify this equation.