Characterisation of biaxial orientation gradients in poly(ethylene terephthalate) films and bottles using polarised attenuated total reflection FTIR spectroscopy

Polarised attenuated total reflection (ATR) infrared spectroscopy has been used to quantify biaxial orientation in commercially manufactured poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films and stretch-blow moulded bottles. Using a single-bounce accessory with a high refractive index element, and applying appropriate data normalisation prior to measuring band intensities, measurement of the average square direction cosines that describe the orientation is simple. Using this technique it was shown that uniaxially drawn PET films were actually biaxially oriented, and there were significant gradients in orientation through the film thickness. Bulk measurements, or methods that assume uniaxial orientation, would give incorrect results from these materials. The bottles exhibited complex orientation patterns that depended on preform and mould design, and again there were strong orientation gradients through the bottle walls. Kratkyʹs model (pseudo-affine) was used in an attempt to predict the biaxial orientation gradients as a function of preform and bottle dimensions.