Polymer crystallization, nucleation origins

Avrami Analysis The Avrami equation, a general approach for description of isothermal phase transformation kinetics originally developed for polymers (46), is often used for describing nucleation and crystal growth in fats. The Avrami equation is given as... 

Chang, S. Z. D. and Lotz, B. (2005) Enthalpic and entropic origins of nucleation barriers during polymer crystallization the Hoffman-Lauritzen theory and beyond, Polymer, 46, 8662 8681. 

The crystallization behavior of a dispersed melt phase, for example, discrete melt droplets, in an amorphous matrix can be dramatically affected compared to that of the bulk polymer. It has been reported by several authors that crystaUizable dispersed droplets can exhibit the phenomenon of fractionated crystallization originating from the primary nucleation of isolated melt particles by species with different nucleating activities (heterogeneities, local chain ordering)... 

The fact that polymer crystals are thin and do not correspond to crystals including chains in their fully extended form has been attributed to kinetic origins [134,172]. According to the kinetic theory of secondary nucleation, crystals growing at a given crystallization temperature have to be thicker than the crystals... 

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