Crystallization and Structural Evolution of Spherulites

When cooled from the melt, many polymers crystallize as spherulites. In this chapter, the inner structure of spherulites, or the aggregation state of stacked lamellae and their evolution in the spherulites are learned by utilizing the various characterization methods. From these results, a universal structural concept of the microscopically-viewed crystallization phenomenon of polymers is derived. In the second half part of this chapter, the lamellar twisting phenomenon is treated from the viewpoints of experiments and theories. In particular, the atomistically-viewed origin of lamellar twisting phenomenon is investigated by combining the X-ray scattering technique and the computer simulation. In addition, the theory of small-angle light scattering, which is useful to know the anisotropic optical property of spherulites, is also studied.