DSC Step Annealing for Fingerprinting Molecular Structure in Poly(vinylidene fluoride)

DSC step annealing is used to study the fine molecular structure of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) homopolymers and copolymers. The melting pattern, obtained after step annealing, is a characteristic “fingerprint” for small variations in structure. This “fingerprint” detects variations in the polymerization process, the molecular weight of the polymer, the fraction and the nature of the co-monomer.