The effects of intracrystalline chain diffusion on the non-linear mechanics of semicrystallinen polymers

The effects of intracrystalline chain diffusion on the non-linear mechanics of semicrystallinen polymers | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article The effects of intracrystalline chain diffusion on the non-linear mechanics of semicrystallinen polymers Thomas Thurn-Albrecht, Rose Mary Michell, Albrecht Petzold This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9251485/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Large deformability is a specific property of many semicrystalline polymers that is enabled by plastic flow going along with a restructuring of the semicrystalline morphology in combination with strain hardening caused by network forces. This ability has been linked with the intracrystalline chain diffusion (ICD), which allows chains to move within the crystals. However, the influence of ICD on the non-linear mechanics remains unclear. We here study the intrinsic non-linear mechanical properties of two model polymers, namely PEO with fast ICD and PCL without ICD by mechanical testing in plane strain compression in dependence of strain rates and temperature. For both polymers the stress could be decomposed in an elastoplastic contribution and a network contribution. Strong differences in the true stress-true strain curves became evident by comparing the rate dependence at larger deformation. The stress in PEO depends strongly on rate and temperature, indicating relaxation of the network contribution, while the stress in PCL is rate independent. Experiments for PEO with different molecular weights indicate that the relaxation affects entire chains as expected for ICD. Physical sciences/Materials science/Soft materials/Polymers Physical sciences/Chemistry/Polymer chemistry/Mechanical properties Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInformationsubm.pdf Suppementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9251485","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":616610261,"identity":"ff02c72d-7c0e-4e04-9e45-1d1fd0f43642","order_by":0,"name":"Thomas Thurn-Albrecht","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7618-0218","institution":"Martin-Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Thomas","middleName":"","lastName":"Thurn-Albrecht","suffix":""},{"id":616610262,"identity":"506ec15d-bbb3-48c0-af2f-d48a60655ce7","order_by":1,"name":"Rose Mary Michell","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8317-6663","institution":"Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, BarcelonaTech (UPC)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rose","middleName":"Mary","lastName":"Michell","suffix":""},{"id":616610263,"identity":"1d7ac5db-7f91-45b8-9b48-66700edd706f","order_by":2,"name":"Albrecht Petzold","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2920-7019","institution":"Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Albrecht","middleName":"","lastName":"Petzold","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-28 09:30:07","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9251485/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9251485/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106094943,"identity":"e95c153a-f497-4878-86cd-18c56cd5ad0f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-03 11:43:41","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":741514,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Michelletal2025TTA260327subm.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9251485/v1_covered_17dea56e-0312-42ec-8cca-fd08e66fc508.pdf"},{"id":106080799,"identity":"8d625191-adf5-4e25-ae72-408f94e37d5f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-03 08:34:03","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":349232,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Suppementary Information","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryInformationsubm.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9251485/v1/b25a8bad71f4823cf595cdc0.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"The effects of intracrystalline chain diffusion on the non-linear mechanics of semicrystallinen polymers","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9251485/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9251485/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Large deformability is a specific property of many semicrystalline polymers that is enabled by plastic flow going along with a restructuring of the semicrystalline morphology in combination with strain hardening caused by network forces. 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