. Studies of polyethylene single crystals have yielded considerable information on the nature of the fold surface; however, interpretation of the results for this deceptively simple polymer is still a matter of debate. Selective chemical modification of the surface represents a powerful structural probe which has received little practical attention. The ability to selectively degrade the surface while leaving the crystalline core intact has been used to estimate the length and uniformity of chain segments traversing the Nondestructive halogenation reactions have also been shown to selectively modify the surface," but have not been exploited for surface characterization. In a previous paper, conditions for the suspension bromination of polyethylene were identified and the selectivity of the attack for noncrystalline regions of the polymer was ~o n f i r m e d .~The present investigation concerns the infrared analysis of polyethylene single crystals selectively modified by the nondestructive bromination reaction. Extensive infrared analysis of polyethylene crystals has shown the spectrum to be sensitive to morphological features of the crystalline structure, and the recent advent of Fourier transform infrared instruments wit,h a dedicated minicomputer provides a previously unavailable degree of resolution and capability to digitally manipulate data.

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