Short range order in amorphous poly-condensates

The static coherent structure factors of the polymer glass Bisphenol-A-Polycarbonate and its chemical variation Bisphenol-A-Polyetherketone, both in differently deuterated versions, have been measured by spin polarized neutron scattering. The method of spin polarisation analysis provided an experimental separation of coherent and incoherent scattering and a reliable intensity calibration. The results are compared to structure factors calculated for model structures which are obtained by ''amorphous cell'' computer simulations. Generally, reasonable agreement is found between experiment and simulation; however, certain discrepancies hint at an insufficient structural relaxation in the amorphous cell method. (authors). 1 fig., 1 tab., 15 refs