Definitions of terms relating to crystalline polymers (IUPAC Recommendations 2011)

Meille, Stefano V.; Allegra, Giuseppe; Geil, Phillip H.; He, Jiasong; Hess, Michael; Jin, Jung-Il; Kratochvíl, Pavel; Mormann, Werner; Stepto, Robert

doi:10.1351/PAC-REC-10-11-13

Pure Appl. Chem., 2011, Vol. 83, No. 10, pp. 1831-1871

http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-10-11-13

Published online 2011-08-03

Definitions of terms relating to crystalline polymers (IUPAC Recommendations 2011)

Stefano V. Meille¹*, Giuseppe Allegra¹*, Phillip H. Geil², Jiasong He³, Michael Hess⁴, Jung-Il Jin⁵, Pavel Kratochvíl⁶, Werner Mormann⁴ and Robert Stepto⁷

¹ Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica, “G. Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, Via L. Mancinelli, 7, 20131 Milano, Italy
² Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois, 1304 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801, USA
³ Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
⁴ Makromolekulare Chemie Universität-Gesamthochschule Siegen, Adolf‑Reichwein-Strasse, D-57068 Siegen, Germany
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Korea University, College of Sciences, 5-1 Anam Dong, Sungbuk-ku, Seoul 136‑701, Korea
⁶ Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Heyrovský Sq. 2, 162 06 Praha 6, Czech Republic
⁷ School of Materials, The University of Manchester, Manchester M1 7HS, UK

Abstract: Recommendations are given concerning the terminology relating to the structure and the morphology of crystalline polymers and the processes of polymer crystallization. They are applicable to cases where polymer crystals are a significant fraction of a system and primarily with crystal structures that are comprised of polymer chains with limited, static, or dynamic disorder. After some general definitions, terms pertaining to structural arrangements at subnanometric scales and to polymer crystal structures are defined. Terms relating to molecular conformation within polymer crystals, morphological aspects, and polymer crystallization are given in subsequent sections.