Spherulite structure

Crystallisation of polymers such as PCL, which crystallise to give spherulitic structures, starts from a nucleus which subdivides at the growth surface to generate a series of very thin (typically 10 nm thick) crystalline lamellae. The lamellae continue to grow and sub-divide to establish the spherically-symmetric structures (spherulites) which consist of a series of crystalline fibrils, bundles of lamellar crystals, extending from the nucleus in all directions, with a constant... 

Cast films exhibit a range of morphologies due to the effect of solvents, substrates and orientation. In the case of block copolymers the choice of solvent is quite important to the final structure. Spherulites, a common textural structure observed in crystalline pol5maers, are formed in many industrial processes where the polymer is melted prior to forming the article of interest. Films produced by these industrial processes differ from films used in model studies as the former are usually not thin in the microscopic sense. In true thin films, the spherulitic texture is two dimensional, whereas in these thicker film materials the spherulites are three dimensional. 

Figure 3.6). This theory known as the fringed mieelle theory or fringed crystallite theory helped to explain many properties of crystalline polymers but it was difficult to explain the formation of certain larger structures such as spherulites which could possess a diameter as large as 0.1 mm. 

The properties of a given polymer will very much depend on the way in which crystallisation has taken place. A polymer mass with relatively few large spherulitic structures will be very different in its properties to a polymer with far more, but smaller, spherulites. It is thus useful to consider the factors affecting the formation of the initial nuclei for crystallisation (nucleation) and on those which affect growth. 

Polymers below the glass transition temperature are usually rather brittle unless modified by fibre reinforcement or by addition of rubbery additives. In some polymers where there is a small degree of crystallisation it appears that the crystallines act as knots and toughen up the mass of material, as in the case of the polycarbonates. Where, however, there are large spherulite structures this effect is more or less offset by high strains set up at the spherulite boundaries and as in the case of P4MP1 the product is rather brittle. 

In the case of the polycrystalline polyester thermoplastic rubbers the simple domain theory does not seem to apply. With these rubbers it would appear that they contain spherulitic structures consisting of 4GT radial lamellae with inter-radial amorphous regions that are mixtures of PTMEG soft segments and noncrystalline hard segments. 

Amorphous stereotactic polymers can crystallise, in which condition neighbouring chains are parallel. Because of the unavoidable chain entanglement in the amorphous state, only modest alignment of amorphous polymer chains is usually feasible, and moreover complete crystallisation is impossible under most circumstances, and thus many polymers are semi-crystalline. It is this feature, semicrystallinity, which distinguished polymers most sharply from other kinds of materials. Crystallisation can be from solution or from the melt, to form spherulites, or alternatively (as in a rubber or in high-strength fibres) it can be induced by mechanical means. This last is another crucial difference between polymers and other materials. Unit cells in crystals are much smaller than polymer chain lengths, which leads to a unique structural feature which is further discussed below. 

The presence of fine-grain spherulite, optically permeable structure contributes to the improvement of serviceability (Table 1). 

The formation of the microstructure involves the folding of linear segments of polymer chains in an orderly manner to form a crystalline lamellae, which tends to organize into a spherulite structure. The SCB hinder the formation of spherulite. However, the volume of spherulite/axialites increases if the branched segments participate in their formation [59]. Heterogeneity due to MW and SCB leads to segregation of PE molecules on solidification [59-65], The low MW species are accumulated in the peripheral parts of the spherulite/axialites [63]. The low-MW segregated material is brittle due to a low concentration of interlamellar tie chains [65] and... 

---