Publication Date:
2016-07-21
Description:
Details of crystallization processes of a polymer at the crystallization temperature T c from its melt kept initially at the melt temperature T m depend profoundly on the nature of the initial melt state and often are accompanied by memory effects. This phenomenon is in contrast to small molecular systems where the supercooling ( T m 0 − T c ), with T m 0 being the equilibrium melting temperature, and not ( T m − T c ), determines the nature of crystallization. In addressing this five-decade old puzzle of melt-memory in polymer crystallization, we present a theory to describe melt-memory effects, by invoking an intermediate inhomogeneous melt state in the pathway between the melt and crystalline states. Using newly introduced dissolution temperature T 1 0 for the inhomogeneous melt state and the transition temperature T t 0 for the transition between the inhomogeneous melt and crystalline states, analytical formulas are derived for the nucleation rate as a function of the melt temperature. The theory is general to address different kinds of melt-memory effects depending on whether T m is higher or lower than T m 0 . The derived results are in qualitative agreement with known experimental data, while making predictions for further experiments on melt-memory.
Print ISSN:
0021-9606
Electronic ISSN:
1089-7690
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Physics
