| Abstract: | The temperature dependence of x-ray small-angle scattering from fractionated linear polyethylene crystallized from the melt was determined experimentally over a range of temperatures from room temperature to the melting point. It was found in general that only the most intense of the several small-angle peaks exhibited a thermally dependent behavior. Below the crystallization temperature this peak increased in intensity with temperature, at constant peak position. Recrystallization was manifest in a discontinuous shift of the peak. During isothermal crystallization, the peak intensity first increased, then decreased, with time. It is concluded from supplementary electron microscopy and from the behavior of the peak that its position reflects the period of stacking of lamellae and that its intensity is controlled primarily by the thickness of the layer separating lamellae. The reversible peak intensity effect is attributed to an entropydriven growth of the interlamellar layer at the expense of the crystalline lamellae. The intensity effects observed during crystallization are associated with the primary and secondary phases of crystallization. Lamellar surface free energies were computed from melting point observations and were found to increase with molecular weight. |
