GROWTH-RATE OF ISOTACTIC POLYSTYRENE CRYSTALS IN CONCENTRATED-SOLUTIONS AND IN THE MELT

The growth rate of isotactic polystyrene (iPS) crystals has been investigated for crystallization in concentrated dimethyl phthalate solutions and in the melt over a wide range of supercooling from 20 to 170 K. For most of the supercoolings studied, the growth faces are rough; nucleation is not present. However, the growth rate G for each concentration shows approximately the same dependence on supercooling DELTA-T as growth controlled by secondary nucleation: log(G/beta) depends linearly on K/T-DELTA-T, where beta is a transport factor and K is a constant. The value of K increases with decreasing concentration. Possible mechanisms for crystal growth are discussed, taking account of the deposition of one stem on growth faces; the side surface free energy increases with decreasing concentration.