ABSTRACT
I. Introduction ..................................................................... 4 II. Crystalline Polymers....................................................... 4 III. Polymer Lamellae............................................................ 6 IV. Spherulites..................................................................... 14 V. Banded Spherulites....................................................... 17 VI. Crystallization under Stress or Flow .......................... 19 VII. Future Challenges......................................................... 21 References............................................................................... 22
I. INTRODUCTION
The wide variation in properties of a given polymer according to its processing conditions reflects differences in internal organization. Polymer morphology is the study of this internal organization, primarily by microscopy but complemented by other techniques [1]. It has been and continues to be responsible for establishing the principal elements in our understanding of macromolecular self-organization and thence to establishing structure-property relationships. Its central position in polymer science arises essentially from three causes. First microscopy identifies specific locations of interest and is not restricted, as are nonmicroscopic techniques, to average values. Second, microscopic information is much more detailed and so potentially more informative than that from other sources. Third, the morphological record is particularly rich in crystalline polymers, more so than in other materials, because, in large measure, the long molecules remain where they were placed during crystallization and subsequent treatments such as deformation, allowing the sample’s history to be read whereas in atomic and small-molecular solids this information is usually lost.
