| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2020 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Materials Processing Fundamentals
|
| Presentation Title |
Non-crystallographic Branching in Polymer Crystallization: a Molecular Picture of the Onset of Spherulite Formation |
| Author(s) |
Tongtong Shen, Chunyu Li, Alejandro Strachan |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Tongtong Shen |
| Abstract Scope |
Crystallinity in polymers conveys enhanced mechanical strength, greater resistance to degradation and better barrier properties and polymers crystallizing from melt frequently adopt spherulitic forms. Despite significant efforts, the mechanism of their formation is still not clear, and this gap stems from lack of knowledge of molecular pictures during polymer crystallization. The objective of our study is to use large-scale molecular dynamics simulations to capture the process of non-crystallographic branching, responsible for spherulite formation, during polymer crystallization. We discovered that during early stage of growth, the thickening process of the parent lamella is predominant, causing significant deformation in its nearby regions. This deformation dramatically changes the molecular alignment in its vicinity and inducing nucleation with chain orientation similar to the primary grain. The predicted misalignment is in good agreement with experiments. We believe this process is the key source of static disorder formation, giving rise to further spherulitic growth. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |