Crystalline and Amorphous Behavior

folded-chain lamella theory arose in the last 1950s when polymer single crystals in the form of thin platelets termed lamella, measuring about 10,000 A x 100 A, were grown from polymer solutions. Contrary to previous expectations, X-ray diffraction patterns showed the polymer chain axes to be parallel to the smaller dimension of the platelet. Since polymer molecules are much longer than 100 A, the polymer molecules are presumed to fold back and forth on themselves in an accordionlike manner in the process of crystallization. Chain 

Some natural polymers such as cotton, slik, and cellulose have the extended-chain morphology, but their morphologies are determined by enzymatically controlled synthesis and crystallization processes. Extended-chain morphology is obtained in some synthetic 

A variety of techniques have been used to determine the extent of crystallinity in a polymer, including X-ray diffraction, density, IR, NMR, and heat of fusion [Sperling, 2001 Wunderlich, 1973], X-ray diffraction is the most direct method but requires the somewhat difficult separation of the crystalline and amorphous scattering envelops. The other methods are indirect methods but are easier to use since one need not be an expert in the field as with X-ray diffraction. Heat of fusion is probably the most often used method since reliable thermal analysis instruments are commercially available and easy to use [Bershtein and Egorov, 1994 Wendlandt, 1986], The difficulty in using thermal analysis (differential scanning calorimetry and differential thermal analysis) or any of the indirect methods is the uncertainty in the values of the quantity measured (e.g., the heat of fusion per gram of sample or density) for 0 and 100% crystalline samples since such samples seldom exist. The best technique is to calibrate the method with samples whose crystallinites have been determined by X-ray diffraction. 

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