1304.3571 (S. Stepanow)

Mechanism of chain folding in polymer crystallization    [PDF]

S. Stepanow

I develop a description of polymer crystallization by considering as driving force the repulsion between fluctuational stems, which form below a characteristic temperature T_m^0 due to frequent occupations of trans-states along the chains, and orient in order to minimize the excluded volume. The thickness of stems and bundles is determined by setting equal the formation time of stems of length d_l with the Rouse time of a piece of polymer of the same arc length d_l, and is thus determined by the coil structure of the polymer. The lamella thickness derived in this way is inversely proportional to the supercooling. An expression for the growth rate is derived by considering the growth as a dynamic multistage process. The scattering intensity at the early stage of polymer crystallization is also discussed.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1304.3571