| Abstract: | Lithium polyphosphate crystals produced by crystallization during polymerization and crystallization from the polymer melt were analyzed by thermal analysis. The glass-transition and melting temperature, heat of fusion, and entropy of fusion were found to be 336°C, 651.5°C, 21 kJ/mole, and 23 J/deg mole, respectively. Crystallization from the macromolecular melt was followed by thermal analysis, x-ray diffraction, and electron and optical microscopy. It could be shown that chain folding may be the first step to crystallization from the macromolecular melt. Oligomers could not effectively nucleate crystallization. Lithium polyphosphate is shown to present a prime example of the processes involved in crystallization during polymerization and macromolecular melt crystallization. |
