A phenomenological model for row nucleation in polymers

Abstract

Abstract A topic of intense interest to polymer morphologists in the past few years is the phenomenon variously called row nucleation or oriented crystallization (from a stressed melt) and shish-kebab crystallization (from stirred solutions) [1–4]. The phenomenon can be characterized as the formation of a fibrillike nucleus, parallel to the stress direction, with an oriented overgrowth. In this note we are concerned with the mechanism of the formation and structure of the nucleating fibrils.