Abstract
Some aspects of the crystal growth of linear macro-molecules are reviewed. The morphology of a polymer crystal and its crystallization kinetics are decisively affected by the structure of the amorphous state from which the crystallization starts. (1) Solution-grown single crystals of polymers are thin platelets whose upper and lower faces are composed of an array of molecular folds. Similarly, spherulitic textures growing out of quiescent melts consist of folded-chain lamellae. (2) Shish-kebabs, each of which is made up of a central fibril and folded-chain lamellae attached on it, precipitate from stirred solution, while the row structure consisting of lamellae stacked in the flow direction is formed from the flowing melt. Three ideas on the development of row structure are described. (3) Some polymers form into extended-chain crystals when crystallized under high pressure. This fact is supposed to be due to an increasing tendency to the parallel arrangement of molecular chains in the amorphous state under high pressure.
