| Abstract: | We examined the free surface of a banded spherulite of poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) by atomic force microscopy. The directions of the slope of multilayer terraces of lamellar crystals are retained in each half of a banded spherulite; this evidence confirms the macroscopic selection of one-handedness in the formation of spiral terraces in each growth direction of the sheaf at the center of banded spherulite of PVDF. In a previous paper, it was confirmed that the three-dimensional morphology of all single crystals of PVDF grown from the melt is of chair-type, and hence, it is most probable that the stress in the chair crystal is responsible for the formation of spiral dislocations and terraces keeping the same handedness in each growth direction. The chair-type morphology is created because of the chain tilting to the fold surface, which can introduce symmetry breaking and, consequently, the selection of handedness in nonchiral polymers such as PVDF. |
