Macromolecules, Vol.34, No.9, 3050-3059, 2001
Structure of chlorotrifluoroethylene/vinylidene fluoride random copolymers and homopolymers by molecular dynamics simulations
We perform molecular dynamics simulations of chlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE)/vinylidene fluoride (VDF) copolymers over a wide range of compositions and temperatures including the volumetric glass transition. Structural features of the polymers and copolymers were characterized using pair correlation functions and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) spectra. Calculated WAXS spectra for the CTFE/VDF copolymer known as Kel-F 800 are compared with experimental results and are found to compare well; The X-ray peak associated with interchain spacing is found to shift to larger scattering angles (smaller d spacings) as the concentration of the CTFE comonomer decreases, suggesting a transition between CTFE and VDF homopolymer interchain packing structures, consistent with earlier experiments. The strong compositional dependence is traced to packing involving the CF2 moiety. The calculated WAXS were further deconvoluted into atom-atom contributions in an attempt to explain the origin of the peak positions found in the WAXS. The location of the first peak in the spectra did not correspond to interchain packing distances for any of the polymer compositions except the VDF homopolymer. The effect of Coulombic interactions on polymer structure is examined. We find that the importance of Coulombic interactions is greatest for pVDF. The torsional angle distribution and the characteristic ratio show greater sensitivities to Coulombic interactions than the density and the total radial distribution function.