Concepts of Nucleation in Polymer Crystallization
Nucleation plays a vital role in polymer crystallization, in which chain connectivity and thus the multiple length and time scales make crystal nucleation of polymer chains an interesting but complex subject. Though the topic has been intensively studied in the past decades, there are still many ope...
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doaj-0ce76131136347a9a77ee5894d6ba78b2021-03-20T00:02:23ZengMDPI AGCrystals2073-43522021-03-011130430410.3390/cryst11030304Concepts of Nucleation in Polymer CrystallizationJun Xu0Günter Reiter1Rufina G. Alamo2Advanced Materials Laboratory of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaInstitute of Physics and Freiburg Materials Research Center, Albert-Ludwig-University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, GermanyFAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, 2525 Pottsdamer St, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USANucleation plays a vital role in polymer crystallization, in which chain connectivity and thus the multiple length and time scales make crystal nucleation of polymer chains an interesting but complex subject. Though the topic has been intensively studied in the past decades, there are still many open questions to answer. The final properties of semicrystalline polymer materials are affected by all of the following: the starting melt, paths of nucleation, organization of lamellar crystals and evolution of the final crystalline structures. In this viewpoint, we attempt to discuss some of the remaining open questions and corresponding concepts: non-equilibrated polymers, self-induced nucleation, microscopic kinetics of different processes, metastability of polymer lamellar crystals, hierarchical order and cooperativity involved in nucleation, etc. Addressing these open questions through a combination of novel concepts, new theories and advanced approaches provides a deeper understanding of the multifaceted process of crystal nucleation of polymers.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/11/3/304nucleationpolymer crystallizationprimary nucleationsecondary nucleationnon-equilibrium |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Jun Xu Günter Reiter Rufina G. Alamo |
spellingShingle |
Jun Xu Günter Reiter Rufina G. Alamo Concepts of Nucleation in Polymer Crystallization Crystals nucleation polymer crystallization primary nucleation secondary nucleation non-equilibrium |
author_facet |
Jun Xu Günter Reiter Rufina G. Alamo |
author_sort |
Jun Xu |
title |
Concepts of Nucleation in Polymer Crystallization |
title_short |
Concepts of Nucleation in Polymer Crystallization |
title_full |
Concepts of Nucleation in Polymer Crystallization |
title_fullStr |
Concepts of Nucleation in Polymer Crystallization |
title_full_unstemmed |
Concepts of Nucleation in Polymer Crystallization |
title_sort |
concepts of nucleation in polymer crystallization |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Crystals |
issn |
2073-4352 |
publishDate |
2021-03-01 |
description |
Nucleation plays a vital role in polymer crystallization, in which chain connectivity and thus the multiple length and time scales make crystal nucleation of polymer chains an interesting but complex subject. Though the topic has been intensively studied in the past decades, there are still many open questions to answer. The final properties of semicrystalline polymer materials are affected by all of the following: the starting melt, paths of nucleation, organization of lamellar crystals and evolution of the final crystalline structures. In this viewpoint, we attempt to discuss some of the remaining open questions and corresponding concepts: non-equilibrated polymers, self-induced nucleation, microscopic kinetics of different processes, metastability of polymer lamellar crystals, hierarchical order and cooperativity involved in nucleation, etc. Addressing these open questions through a combination of novel concepts, new theories and advanced approaches provides a deeper understanding of the multifaceted process of crystal nucleation of polymers. |
topic |
nucleation polymer crystallization primary nucleation secondary nucleation non-equilibrium |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/11/3/304 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT junxu conceptsofnucleationinpolymercrystallization AT gunterreiter conceptsofnucleationinpolymercrystallization AT rufinagalamo conceptsofnucleationinpolymercrystallization |
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1724212418026930176 |