Crystal Nucleation in Polymer Glasses

A new finding is reported that the structure formation in the induction period of polymer crystallization involves a spinodal decomposition type of phase separation. This has been revealed for poly(ethylene terephthalate) using a small angle X-ray scattering technique when it was crystallized just above the glass transition temperature Tg from a melt-quenched glass. Further, the depolarized light scattering experiments have clarified that the cause for such phase separation is the local ordering due to parallel orientation of polymer segments before crystallization