Competition between crystal growth and intracrystalline chain diffusion determines the lamellar thickness in semicrystalline polymers.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35013275.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-27752-0 and PMC identifier 8748680.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The non-equilibrium thickness of lamellar crystals in semicrystalline polymers varies significantly between different polymer systems and depends on the crystallization temperature T<sub>c</sub>. There is currently no consensus on the mechanism of thickness selection. Previous work has highlighted the decisive role of intracrystalline chain diffusion (ICD) in special cases, but a systematic dependence of lamellar thickness on relevant timescales such as that of ICD and stem attachment has not yet been established. Studying the morphology by small-angle X-ray scattering and the two timescales by NMR methods and polarization microscopy respectively, we here present data on poly(oxymethylene), a case with relatively slow ICD. It fills the gap between previously studied cases of absent and fast ICD, enabling us to establish a quantitative dependence of lamellar thickness on the competition between the noted timescales.