The crystallization behavior of poly（ethylene adipate） （PEA） on highly oriented high-density polyethylene （PE） substrate both from solution and isotropic melt was studied by means of optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, atomic force microscopy and electron diffraction. The results show that the PE influences the crystallization of PEA strongly, which results in an epitaxial growth of PEA with well ordered structure. At the boundary of the PE substrate, a transcrystalline PEA layer is observed. Fine structural observation illustrates that the PEA grows on the PE substrate in edge- on lamellae with fixed orientation. Electron diffraction demonstrates that the epitaxial organization of PEA on PE occurs with both polymer chains parallel, which leads to the （00l） PEA diffractions inclined ±23.5° to the chain direction of PE crystals. Combining the real space morphological observation and electron diffraction results, it is concluded that the epitaxial PEA edge-on lamellae are folded in the {00l} lattice planes.
The dependence of properties on the structure and morphology of semicrystalline polymers offers an effective way to tailor the properties of these materials through structure control. To this end, establishing the structure and property relationship is of great importance. For a right characterization of the crystal structure, several techniques can be used. Among these techniques, electron diffraction has its advantage for determining the crystal structure related to specific formation condition since it can combine with bright and dark fields observation of the sample. This feature article describes the application of electron diffraction in determining the crystal structure of semicrystalline polymers with elaborately selected examples. We focus on how the electron diffraction can be used to disclose the crystal structure, mutual orientation of different crystals, as well as the disorders included in the polymer crystals.
The crystalline structure and morphology of the PLA crystallized isothermally from the glassy state on highly oriented PE substrates at 130℃ were investigated by means of optical microscopy, AFM and X-ray diffraction. The results indicate that the PE substrate influences the crystallization behavior of PLA remarkably, which leads to the growth of PLA crystals on PE substrate always in edge-on form rather than the twisted lamellar crystals from edge-on to flat-on when crystallizing the PLA on glass surface under the same condition. The edge-on PLA lamellae on the PE substrate are preferentially arranged with their long axes in the chain direction of the PE substrate crystals. It is further demonstrated that except for the different crystal orientation, the PE does not influence the crystalline modification and crystallinity of the PLA.
