Orientation and crystallization of natural rubber network as revealed by WAXD using synchrotron radiation

Strain-induced crystallization of natural rubber samples with various network-chain densities, v, was investigated by synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements. It was found that the onset strain of crystallization was almost independent of v. Lateral crystallite size and degree of orientational fluctuations of crystallites were also evaluated. These results indicated that stretched molecular chains acted as nuclei while surrounding chains could also contribute to the crystal growth. Deformation of crystal lattice with nominal stress was detected, and the strain-induced crystallites were found to be responsible for the increased modulus upon elongation. The unit cell volume decreased almost linearly with nominal stress. By assuming the deformation mechanism of the rubber network as a pantograph, the reinforcement effect of the crystallites is thought to be brought out not directly by crystallites connected in series but indirectly through the surrounding network chains.