Orientation in uniaxially drawn polystyrene plasticized by CO 2 sorption

Uniaxial drawing experiments of the polystyrene films plasticized by a sorption of compressed CO 2 gas at pressures up to about 18 MPa were carried out with strain rates ε of 0.0290 and 0.0079 s −1 . The drawing was performed successfully with draw ratio λ up to 4 at the temperatures of 308.15, 318.15, 328.15, and 338.15 K. The Hermans orientation function f of the drawn samples was determined from the dichroic ratio measured by an infrared spectrophotmeter. While f value increases with increasing ε or λ, it decreases with increasing CO 2 pressure or temperature. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.