Spatially Resolved Cavitation within Tensile Stretched Isotactic Polybutene-1 Spherulite

Cong-Wen Zhao; Shao-Dong Mou; Zhi-Yong Jiang; Yong-Feng Men

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3743-1

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Spatially Resolved Cavitation within Tensile Stretched Isotactic Polybutene-1 Spherulite

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-09-23

- Spatially Resolved Cavitation within Tensile Stretched Isotactic Polybutene-1 Spherulite
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 10, Pages: 3528-3541(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.State Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China
  b.School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
- Author bio：
  
  jiangzhy@ciac.ac.cn (Z.Y.J.)
  men@ciac.ac.cn (Y.F.M.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3743-1
  CLC：
- Received：09 April 2026，
  
  Revised：2026-04-21，
  
  Accepted：31 May 2026，
  
  Online First：28 August 2026，
  
  Published：05 October 2026
- Accepted：
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Zhao, C. W.; Mou, S. D.; Jiang, Z. Y.; Men, Y. F. Spatially resolved cavitation within tensile stretched isotactic polybutene-1 spherulite. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 3528–3541

Cong-Wen Zhao, Shao-Dong Mou, Zhi-Yong Jiang, et al. Spatially Resolved Cavitation within Tensile Stretched Isotactic Polybutene-1 Spherulite[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(10): 3528-3541.
Zhao, C. W.; Mou, S. D.; Jiang, Z. Y.; Men, Y. F. Spatially resolved cavitation within tensile stretched isotactic polybutene-1 spherulite. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 3528–3541 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3743-1.

Cong-Wen Zhao, Shao-Dong Mou, Zhi-Yong Jiang, et al. Spatially Resolved Cavitation within Tensile Stretched Isotactic Polybutene-1 Spherulite[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(10): 3528-3541. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3743-1.

摘要

By employing

in situ

synchrotron microfocus X-ray scattering on a single polybutene-1 (PB-1) spherulite

this study provides spatially resolved evidence that stress-induced cavitation occurs in the equatorial region and is primarily governed by the mechanical fragmentation of lamellae parallel to the stretching axis.

Abstract

The precise microstructural origin of cavitation in semicrystalline polymers remains a subject of persistent controversial. Consequently

the exact spatial initiation of voids within a single spherulite remains under debate. Resolving this ambiguity has long been hindered by the spatial resolution limits of the conventional characterization techniques. To overcome this limitation

we employ an integrated approach of

in situ

synchrotron microfocus X-ray scattering and ultrasmall-angle X-ray scattering to investigate the cavitation behavior within individual isotactic polybutene-1 spherulite during uniaxial stretching. It turns out that early-stage voiding exhibits a distinct spatial sequence. Structural damage preferentially initiates at the spherulitic center

subsequently emerges in the equatorial region

and ultimately propagates to polar regions. By reconstructing the three-dimensional lamellar orientation within the undeformed spherulite

we revealed that lamellae oriented parallel to the stretching direction are extensively distributed across all spherulitic regions. Based on these findings

we propose a micro-mechanical cavitation model. In this framework

parallel lamellae undergo direct mechanical fragmentation under stress

with microvoids nucleating within the interstitial gaps between adjacent crystalline blocks.

关键词

Keywords

references

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