spectrometer (Nicolet 560, Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA) with the
resolution of 2 cm–1 and accumulation of 64 scans
in transmission mode.31 (link) The polarization
of the beam was performed using a zinc selenide wire grid polarizer.
The sample was placed perpendicular to the FTIR beam with MD in the
vertical direction and TD in the horizontal direction. Then, the measurements
were performed with the polarization beam in the positions of 0°
and 90°, respectively.24 (link)The
White–Spruiell biaxial orientation factors (fseg, MDB), which can quantify the orientation of interesting segments in
MD and TD, are defined according to where “seg”
is the a, b, or c axis of the orthorhombic crystal structure for PE. In addition,
the θ1 and θ2 are defined in terms
of the angles between the crystallographic axis and MD/TD of the biaxially
stretched film. The values of f are limited, with f = 1 for perfect orientation, f = 0 for
random orientation, and f = −1 for complete
perpendicular orientation. The details for this method can be found
elsewhere.32 (link),33 (link)