Structure of polymers rapidly crystallized from their melts

Abstract

An account is given of the effect of temperature (T_m) and pressure (P_m) applied to the melt immediately prior to cooling and the effect of molecular entanglement of the melt on the solid produced by rapid cooling. The data presented refer to linear polyethylene.

The lamellar thickness l_c varies as T_m^–1 and as P_m^–1 up to ≈ 3 kbar. Above that pressure the value of l_c rises. It is concluded that the structure of the rapidly produced solid is related to that of the melt.