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Authors
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Sommer, J.-U.
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Title
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The role of the amorphous fraction for the equilibrium shape of polymer single crystals
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Date
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25.10.2006
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Number
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14010
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Abstract
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The equilibrium state of polymer single crystals is considered by explicitly taking into account the amorphous fraction formed by loops and tails of the chains using a statistical model introduced by Muthukumar (Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 361, 539 (2003)). We show that under realistic conditions below the equilibrium melting temperature, tight loops and close re-entries are favored, and that the amorphous fraction can be mapped into an excess surface free energy. The model is extended to many-chain crystals where it is shown that the lamellar thickness increases with the number of chains in the crystal and extended-chain conformations are thermodynamically favored if the number of chains in the crystal is sufficiently large. The number of chains necessary to form an extended-chain crystal in thermodynamic equilibrium scales with the square of the degree of polymerization of the chains. We discuss the temperature behavior of the equilibrium crystal thickness in the under-cooled state.
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Publisher
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European Physical Journal E
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Wikidata
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Citation
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European Physical Journal E 19 (2006) 413-422
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DOI
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https://doi.org/epje/i2005-10055-1
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Tags
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