화학공학소재연구정보센터
Macromolecules, Vol.36, No.11, 4037-4041, 2003
Crystallization of poly(ethylene oxide) confined in miniemulsion droplets
Crystallization of the poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) confined in narrowly distributed, stable 0nanodroplets with a size of about 100 nm as obtained by the miniemulsion process is analyzed using DSC measurements. It is shown that nucleation in these PEO droplets occurs only at large supercooling. It is found that the polymer structure in the crystallized droplets is topologically controlled. PEO forms loosely layered lamellar structure in the droplets. Drying of the dispersion leads to a highly ordered arrangement of PEO platelets of different sizes but a constant height of about 25 nm as detected by TEM and AFM.