Nonequilibrium pattern formation in the crystallization of polymer blend films.
We show that the morphology of polyethylene oxide crystallization in thin films can be tuned to obtain circular spherulites, seaweed and symmetric dendrites, and fractal aggregation forms through the addition of clay particles and the amorphous polymer, polymethyl methacrylate. The thin-film polymer crystallization patterns are compared to a two-dimensional phase field model of dendritic growth in Ni/Cu alloys with a variable surface tension anisotropy epsilon. Some aspects of polymer crystallization patterns can be understood from the phase field calculations, but a more general model is required to describe the full range of observed patterns.
Ferreiro
Vincent
V
Polymers Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA.
Douglas
Jack F
JF
Warren
James A
JA
Karim
Alamgir
A
D016880:Anisotropy; D003460:Crystallization; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000737:chemistry; D012624:Seaweed / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development; D013499:Surface Properties
D011108:Polymers; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate