Abstract
Morphological evolution during isothermal crystallization over a long time (∼3 d) in a crystalline-crystalline diblock copolymer, poly(ε-caprolactone)-block-polyethylene (PCL-b-PE), has been investigated at various temperatures Tc by SAXS, DSC, and FT/IR techniques. The crystallization temperature of PE blocks was sufficiently higher than that of PCL blocks, so that PE blocks crystallized first by quenching PCL-b-PE from a microphase-separated melt into Tc followed by the crystallization of PCL blocks, and eventually PCL+PE-crystallized morphology was formed in the system. The long period L, an alternating distance of the morphology, did not change at all during isothermal crystallization after an initial increase in L by the crystallization of both blocks, indicating no apparent change in the morphology at the late stage crystallization. However, DSC and FT/IR results revealed that the crystallinity of PCL blocks significantly increased and simultaneously that of PE blocks decreased moderately with increasing crystallization time at the late stage. These results suggest the partial melting of PE crystals facilitated by further crystallization of PCL blocks in order to compensate the space previously occupied by amorphous PCL blocks.
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Sakurai, T., Ohguma, Y. & Nojima, S. Morphological Evolution during Isothermal Crystallization Observed in a Crystalline-Crystalline Diblock Copolymer. Polym J 40, 971–978 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1295/polymj.PJ2008092
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1295/polymj.PJ2008092
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