The crystal transformation in lamellar crystals of polybutene-1 grown from an amyl acetate
solution was studied by cryogenic high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The shape of the
transformed trigonal (form-1) crystal domains in the surrounding tetragonal (form-2) crystal was
successfully revealed. Along with the nucleation of the “untwinned” form-1, the existence of another
nucleation mechanism which creates the “twinned” form-1 was suspected. Each crystallite of form-1 was
comparatively large, and accordingly, the growth of the form-1 crystal was thought to progress not stem
by stem but by pulling in the molecular chains from the surrounding form-2, creating new stems of form-1. Once form-1 has nucleated, mutual orientation between the form-1 and the form-2 domains appeared
to be insignificant for further growth. The shape of the form-1 domain was irregular, and no specific
crystallographic direction along which the form-1 domain tends to grow was found.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.