Surface structure of polyethylene crystals as revealed by surface decoration. I. Preliminary survey

Abstract

The metal decoration technique has been applied to solution-grown polyethylene crystals, to try to elucidate the texture of the fold surface. Several effects have been observed. Zones have been found at surface steps and boundaries which appear to be a characteristic polymeric feature. Differences in metal nucleation density show that the surface texture can vary between crystals and within the same crystal. Interesting features on annealed and melt-crystallized droplets are also reported. Possible interpretations of all these features are suggested.