Intramolecular crystal nucleation

W. Hu Intramolecular Crystal Nucleation Lect. Notes Phys. 714, 47-63 (2007)... 

The regime-transition phenomena of polymer crystal growth have been well explained on the basis of the Lauritzen-Hoffman model [14,15]. Nevertheless, the assumptions about the details of secondary crystal nucleation can be replaced by the intramolecular crystal nucleation, without a substantial loss of semi-quantitative predictions about regime transitions. 

Intramolecular crystal nucleation does not exclude the fact that intermole-cular crystal nucleation can be quite important in crystallization of very short chains, very rigid chains, or polymer crystallization induced by stretching or polymerization, etc. The competition of these two paths and the resulting crystal morphology are worthy of further studies. 

Here, the intramolecular crystal nucleation has been discussed mainly in association with the properties of critical free-energy barrier and in comparison with some basic experimental observations. The contributions of other terms in the rate equation, especially the prefactor, can be further considered to explain more experimental facts. Even those subsequent processes following crystal nucleation, such as crystal thickening, perfection, recrystalUzation, and transient mesophase transitions should be further considered to cover the complete picture of the microscopic mechanism of polymer crystalUzation. Some discussions on these processes can be found in other contributions of this book. 

Hu W (1998) Structural transformation in the collapse transition of the single flexible homopolymer model. J Chem Phys 109(9) 3686-3690 Hu W (20(X)) The melting point of chain polymers. J Chem Phys 113(9) 3901-3908 Hu W (2005) Molecular segregation in polymer melt crystallization simulation evidence and unified-scheme interpretation. Macromolecules 38(21) 8712-8718 Hu W (2007) Intramolecular crystal nucleation. In Reiter G, Strobl GR (eds) Lecture notes in physics progress in understanding of polymer crystallization. Springer, Berlin, pp 47-63 Hu W (2013) Polymer physics a molecular approach. Springer, Wien... 

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