Small-angle light scattering and crystallization processes in solid polymer films

Information, not previously measurable, about the internal crystallization processes occurring within spherulitic films can now be obtained by combining refractive index, birefringence, and small-angle light-scattering measurements. The surroundings of a spherulite in a solid film are composed of both the adjacent spherulites and their interstices (boundaries), and it is shown that different crystallization processes can occur in each of these regions. Upon annealing a quenched isotactic polypropylene film, the rate of crystallization within the interstices of the space-filling spherulites is observed to be greater than the rate of crystallization within the spherulites themselves.