Abstract
A RECENT communication1 comments on the reports2–4 that polyethylene does not produce spherulites resolvable with a light microscope but rather produces a complex mass of biréfringent units of sizes less than 1 µm. The observation of spherulites by others5, 6 had been attributed to degradation and excessive thinning of samples, but Booth and Hay1 dispute this hypothesis and present scanning electron microscope evidence that spherulites do occur in linear polyethylene films. The lack of resolution of spherulites with a conventional microscope was attributed to clouding of the contours of spherulites by other biréfringent spherulites in thicker samples.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
We are sorry, but there is no personal subscription option available for your country.
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Booth, A., and Hay, J. N., Nature, 227, 701 (1970).
Banks, W., Hay, J. N., Sharples, A., and Thompson, G., Nature, 194, 542 (1962).
Banks, W., Hay, J. N., Sharples, A., and Thompson, G., Polymer, 5, 163 (1964).
Lanceley, H. A., Polymer, 6, 15 (1965).
Keller, A., J. Polymer Sci., 17, 291 (1955).
Bunn, C. W., and Alcock, T. C., Trans. Faraday Soc., 41, 317 (1945).
Stein, R. S., and Rhodes, M. B., J. Appl. Phys., 31, 1873 (1960).
Stein, R. S., in B. Ke, Newer Methods of Polymer Characterization, ch. 4 (Wiley, New York, 1964).
Stein, R. S., and Chu, W., J. Polymer Sci., A2, 8, 1137 (1970).
Picott, C., Stein, R. S., Marchessault, R. H., Borch, J., and Sarko, A. (in the press).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
PRUD'HOMME, R., STEIN, R. Light Scattering Evidence for Polyethylene Spherulites. Nature Physical Science 231, 60–62 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/physci231060a0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/physci231060a0