The determination of crystal size and disorder from the X-ray diffraction photograph of polymer fibres. 2. Modelling intensity profiles

The intensity profile of the X-ray reflection from a crystalline material is related to the lattice disorder and the distribution of crystal sizes through its Fourier cosine coefficients. However, existing methods of obtaining these structural parameters from the coefficients require more than one order of reflection and this is seldom available with polymer fibres. They also rely heavily on the low-order harmonics which are those determined with least accuracy. The development and testing of a method which overcomes this weakness and which is suitable for use with a single order is described. The coefficients are calculated for a model with paracrystalline disorder and an assumed distribution of crystal sizes and the parameters describing this model are refined to minimize the discrepancy between the calculated and experimental values of the coefficients. Provided the distribution of lengths is asymmetric this discrepancy is no greater than would be expected from experimental error and so the assumed model cannot be rejected on the evidence available. Since a range of model parameters all gave equally good agreement with experiment, it was not possible with a single order to obtain a well defined set of values. Diffraction patterns displaying two orders had been chosen and results from the second order were consistent with the first, only a narrow range satisfying both simultaneously. The method was further developed by calculating the intensity profile from the harmonics and using this in the refinement. There was no advantage over using harmonics; indeed, on occasions the refinement algorithm was unstable producing unreliable results.