Confinement-Induced Crystal Growth in One-Dimensional
Isotactic Polystyrene Nanorod Arrays
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Abstract
This work demonstrates the anomalous
crystal growth of isotactic
polystyrene (iPS) in nanorod arrays with different rod sizes. At the
bottom of the nanorods, the crystals in bulk film grow into nanorods
along either the [110] or [100] direction parallel to the rod axis.
On the top side of the nanorods, the polymer exhibits different orientations
corresponding to weak or strong confinement. In the weaker confinement
(bigger nanorods of 300 nm diameter), the crystals grow with the [100]
direction along the nanorod, which is similar to the crystals developed
in the radial of spherulite. In the stronger confinement (smaller
nanorods of 65 nm diameter), the splaying of crystals in the rod is
significantly suppressed, and the preferred growth direction of iPS
crystals is kept in either the [110] or [100] direction. The precise
control of polymer crystal orientation and crystallinity at a local
scale opens important perspectives for the design of one-dimensional
nanomaterials whose performance depends on the anisotropic crystal
properties