Replicated Banded Spherulite:Microscopic Lamellar-assembly of Poly(L-lactic acid)Crystals in the Poly(oxymethylene)Crystal Framework

The morphologies of poly(L-lactic acid)(PLLA)spherulites,when crystallized within the pre-existed poly(oxymethylene)(POM)crystal frameworks,have been investigated.PLLA/POM blend is a melt-miscible crystalline/crystalline blend system.Owing to the lower melting point but much faster crystallization rate than PLEA,POM crystallized first upon cooling from the melt state and then melted first during the subsequent heating process in this blend system.Lamellar assembly of PLLA crystals within the pre-existed POM spherulitic frameworks was directly observed with the polarized light microscopy by selectively melting the POM frameworks.The investigation indicated that PLLA crystals fully replicated the spherulitic morphology and optical birefringence of the POM crystal frameworks,which was independent of T_(o).On the other hand,POM could also duplicate the pre-existed PLLA morphologies.The result obtained provides us a possibility to design the lamellar assembly and crystal structures of polymer crystals in miscible crystalline/crystalline polymer blends.

Observation of banded spherulites and lamellar structures by atomic force microscopy

Lamellar structures of banded spherulites of poly(e-caprolactone)/poly(vinylchloride) (PCL/PVC) blends are observed using tapping mode atomic force microscopy (AFM). Thesurface of the PCL/PVC banded spherulites presents to be concentric periodic ups and downs. Theperiod of the bands corresponds to the extinction rings under the polarized optical microscopyobservation. The lamellae with edge-on orientation in the ridges and the flat-on lamellae in thevalleys of the banded spherulites are observed clearly. The twisting between the edge-on and flat-onlamellae is also observed.

The Banded Spherulites of iPP Induced by Pressure Vibration Injection Molding

Isotactic polypropylene（i PP） samples obtained by pressure vibration injection molding（PVIM） and conventional injection molding（CIM） were studied by polarized-light microscopy（PLM）, respectively. It was found that the alternating bright and dark banded spherulites were generated in the transitional region of PVIM parts. It is the first time that the banded spherulites of isotactic polypropylene were observed in polymer processing. What＇s more, the banded spherulites were proved to be constituted of α-form crystal by hot stage polarized-light microscopy（HT-PLM） and wide angle X-ray diffraction（WAXD）. Morphology of the banded spherulites was also studied by scaning electronical microscopy（SEM）.

Study on the crystal morphology and melting behavior of isothermally crystallized composites of short carbon fiber and poly(trimethylene terephthalate)

The spherulites of the short carbon fiber(SCF)/poly(trimethyleneterephthalate)(PTT)compositesformedin limited space at designed temperatures,and their melting behaviors were studied by the polarized optical microscopy,atomic force microscopy(AFM),and scanning electron microscopy(SEM),respectively.The results suggest that SCF content,isothermal crystallization temperatures,and the film thicknesses influence the crystal morphology of the composites.The dimension of the spherulites is decreased with increasing SCF content,but whether banded or nonbanded spherulites will form in the composites is not dependent on SCF content.However,the crystal morphology of the composites depends strongly on the temperature.When the isothermal crystallization temperatures increase from 180℃ to 230℃,the crystal morphology of SCF/PTT composites continuously changes in the following order:nonbanded→banded→nonbanded spherulites.Disconti-nuous circle lines form in the film when the film thickness increases from 30 to 60μm.Basing on the SEM observation,it is found that these circle lines are cracks formed due to the constriction difference of the different parts of the spherulites.These cracks are formed when the film is cooled from the isothermal crystallization temperature to the room tempera-ture at a slow cooling rate;while they will disappear gradually at different temperatures in the heating process.The crack will appear/disappear first around the center of the spherulite when the film was cooled/heated.The nontwisted or slightly twisted lamellas will reorganize to form highly twisted lamellas inducing apparent banded texture of the spherulites.

Thermal behavior and phase behavior in blends of liquid crystalline poly(aryl ether ketone) and poly(aryl ether ether ketone) containing thioether units

Thermal behavior and phase behavior in blends of liquid crystalline poly(aryl ether ketone) with lateral methoxy groups (M-PAEK) and poly(aryl ether ether ketone) containing thioether units (S-PEEK) have been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized light microscopy (PLM) techniques. The results indicate that the composition of the blends has great effect on the phase behavior and morphology. Thin films of pure M-PAEK and S-PEEK crystallized from the melts exhibit typical mosaic and spherulitic structures, respectively. For the blends with higher M-PAEK contents (> 50%), an unusual ring-banded spherulite with structural discontinuity is formed. The bright core and rings of the ring-banded spherulites under PLM are composed of M-PAEK phase, while the dark rings consist mainly of S-PEEK phase. For the 50:50 M-PAEK/S-PEEK blend, the ring-banded spherulites and S-PEEK spherulites coexist, which implies that a partial phase separation between the two components takes place in the melting state. In S-PEEK-rich blends, a volume-filled spherulite is produced. In addition, the effect of isothermal crystallization temperature on the phase behavior, especially the ring-banded spherulite formation in the blends, is discussed.