Crystal lamella structure

With the long alkyl chain substitutions on the A-heterocyclic carbenes, lamella-structured silver(i) carbene complexes 27a and 27b (Figure 14) were isolated.74 It is interesting to note that the synthetic procedures for the two complexes are the same except for the use of different solvents of crystallization. The dinuclear 27a was obtained from recrystallization in dichloromethane- -hexane while the tetranuclear 27b was obtained from acetone. The structure of 27a could be interpreted as the dimeric form of [Ag(carbene)Br] bridged by intermolecular Ag-Br interactions. The Ag-G bond has a distance of 2.094(5) A. The tetranuclear 27b, on the other hand, could be regarded as two monocationic bis(carbene)silver(i) bridged by an [Ag2Br4]2 anion, with the presence of short Ag(cationic)-Ag(anionic) contact (3.0038(18) A) and comparable Ag-G bond distances (2.0945(5), 2.138(13) A). A related... 

In semicrystalline polymers such as polyethylene, yielding involves significant disruption of the crystal structure. Slip occurs between the crystal lamellae, which slide by each other, and within the individual lamellae by a process comparable to glide in metallic crystals. The slip within the individual lamellae is the dominant process, and leads to molecular orientation, since the slip direction within the crystal is along the axis of the polymer molecule. As plastic flow continues, the slip direction rotates toward the tensile axis. Ultimately, the slip direction (molecular axis) coincides with the tensile axis, and the polymer is then oriented and resists further flow. The two slip processes continue to occur during plastic flow, but the lamellae and spherullites increasingly lose their identity and a new fibrillar structure is formed (see Figure 5.69). 

Crystallization is an inherently time-dependent process the nucleation and growth of crystalline structures, the degree of crystallinity, the phase structure and quality of crystal lamellae, and their connectedness strongly influence the mechanical properties of semi-crystalline polymers. It is for this... 

The existence of crystal lamellae in melt-crystallised polyethylene was independently shown by Fischer [28] and Kobayashi [39]. They observed stacks of almost parallel crystal lamellae with amorphous material sandwiched between adjacent crystals. At the time, another structure was well known, the spherulite (from Greek meaning small sphere ). Spherulites are readily observed by polarised light microscopy and they were first recognised for polymers in the study of Bunn and Alcock [40] on branched polyethylene. They found that the polyethylene spherulites had a lower refractive index along the spherulite radius than along the tangential direction. Polyethylene also shows other superstructures, e.g. structures which lack the full spherical symmetry referred to as axialites, a term coined by Basset et al. [41]. 

Very high molar mass polyethylene (M>2,000,000 g mol-1) crystallises without the, formation of a clear superstructure, sometimes referred to as the random lamellar structure [116]. The great many chain entanglements present in high molar mass polymers obstruct crystallisation and the crystals become small and their orientation less correlated with surrounding crystal lamellae. 

Strong electronic (covalent or electrovalent) bonding is desirable within a crystal lamella, to provide structural strength and to ensure that when shear forces are applied to the crystal, shear takes place between lamellae, and not within them. Conversely, strong bonding between lamellae is undesirable, as it leads to high inter-lamellar shear resistance and high friction. Ideally, the inter-lamellar forces are limited to weak van der Waals forces, and the inter-lamellar space is often called the "van... 

Orientation of semicrystalline polymers below the melting point is often referred to as "cold drawing." Although some stress crystallization does occur, the process primarily involves the transformation of existing crystalline structures. A widely accepted model of the deformation mechanism is that provided by Peterlin (Figure 5) (41). Prior to necking, the crystal lamellae which... 

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