文档介绍：Adv Polym Sci (2005) 188: 1–41
DOI
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005
Published online: 22 September 2005
Direct Observation of the Growth of Lamellae
and Spherulites by AFM
Chi-Ming Chan1 (u)·LinLi2
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Hong Kong University
of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, . China
******@
2State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking, . China
******@iccas.
1Introduction................................... 2
2 Crystallization Processes ............................ 6
HomogeneousNucleation—BirthofPrimaryNuclei............. 6
DevelopmentoftheFoundingLamella.................... 9
3 Development of the Lamellar Sheaf ...................... 14
BranchingofLamellae............................. 14
BranchingatDifferentTemperatures...................... 19
PropagationofLamellae............................ 22
LamellarGrowthRate.............................. 25
4 The Effect of Film Thickness on Lamellar Growth Rate and Morphology .29
5 Formation of Spherulites ............................ 35
6 Heterogeneous Nucleation ........................... 37
7 Summary ..................................... 39
References ....................................... 39
Abstract This article describes some of the progress made in the understanding of the
growth of polymer lamellae and spherulites using atomic force microscopy (AFM) in the
last five years. High-resolution and real-time AFM phase imaging enables us to observe
the detailed growth process of lamellae. During the early stage of crystallization, em-
bryos appear and disappear on the film surface. A stable embryo develops into a single
lamella, which develops into a founding lamella. Then, the founding lamella develops
into a lamellar sheaf through branching and splaying. Through further branching and
splaying, a lamellar sheaf develops int