Surface and interior views on origins of two types of banded spherulites in poly(nonamethylene terephthalate)

Eamor M. Woo*, Siti Nurkhamidah, Yu Fan Chen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Top-surface and three-dimensional views of Type-1 and Type-2 of ring-banded spherulites in poly(nonamethylene terephthalate) (PNT) in thicker bulk crystallized on a nucleating potassium bromide (KBr) substrate were examined using various microscopy techniques: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), polarized-optical microscopy (POM), and atomic-force microscopy (AFM). In PNT crystallized at higher crystallization temperature (T c) with heterogeneous nucleating substrate, typically two types of ring-banded spherulites are present that differ significantly in patterns and ring spacings: Type-1 Type-2 (single- and double-ring-banded spherulites). Three-dimensional view on fractured spherulites in bulk PNT samples reveals that the single-ring-banded spherulite (Type-1) tends to be well-rounded spheres as they are nucleated homogeneously from bulk; the double-ring-banded spherulite (Type-2) is concentric hemisphere or truncated sphere shells owing to be nucleated from bottom. With confined thickness of films, the 3-D hemispheres in PNT may become truncated into multi-shell annular cones or arcs when thickness or growth is restricted. Based on the top-surface vs. interior views of banded lamellar assembly, origins and inner structures of dual types of ring bands in PNT were examined in greater details. This journal is

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)17841-17851
Number of pages11
JournalPhysical Chemistry Chemical Physics
Volume13
Issue number39
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Oct 2011
Externally publishedYes

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