ENVIRONMENT-INDUCED MORPHOLOGICAL-CHANGES OF POLYETHYLENE LAMELLAE DURING CRYSTALLIZATION IN SOLUTION

Polyethylene (PE) lamellar crystals were grown by two dual-staged crystallization methods: (1) Fractionated PE was first crystallized from n-octane by the self-seeding method, the solvent of the resulting suspension of crystals was exchanged for p -xylene, and thereafter, the suspension was mixed with a solution in p -xylene at various temperatures so that PE grew from p-xylene onto the lamellae pregrown from n-octane, and (2) according to the similar procedure, PE lamellae were first grown from p-xylene and subsequently, PE was deposited from n-octane onto the lamellae pre-grown from p-xylene. In the crystallization procedure (1), triangular lamellae with the [010] chain folding developed randomly on the {100} lateral surfaces of truncated parent lamellae so that the surfaces were serrated, and otherwise, thin daughter lamellae bordered the parent lamellae along the {110} surfaces, retaining the flat growth fronts with the [110] folding. In the procedure (2), the {100} sectors with the [010] folding developed at the apexes of the long diagonal of lozenge-shaped parent lamellae, and consequently, their morphology was transfigured into a truncated crystal. These morphological transformations are discussed on the basis of the change in the interfacial free energy between the parent crystal and the surrounding phase due to the substitution of solvent. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.