Structure of the quenched form of polypropylene

X‐ray diffraction has been used to further investigate the quenched form of polypropylene. The diffractometer traces were analyzed by a mathematical peak separation procedure which assumed a combined Cauchy and Gaussian shape for the peaks. The results confirmed that the quenched form contains about 60% of amorphous polypropylene. In the remainder, the x‐ray diffraction peak positions indicate that the chain helices are arranged in a square array and a cubic or tetragonal symmetry is proposed for this phase. The shape of the x‐ray diffractometer peaks indicates a degree of strain in the structure. Crystallite sizes, determined from peak breadths, have been estimated as approximately 30 Å.