| Abstract: | When virgin polytetrafluoroethylene is heated at intermediate rates, two melting peaks are observed. As the heating rate is increased, the higher-temperature peak grows at the expense of the lower-temperature one without any significant change in the total heat of fusion. It is suggested that the higher-temperature peak represents a transition to a strained melt which subsequently changes to the more stable equilibrium melt. After recrystallization from the melt, there is only a single melting peak which occurs at a lower temperature than peaks for the virgin polymer. All of these transitions are subject to superheating. |
