Polyethylene (PE) single crystals prepared from 0.01 wt% solution of PE in xylene were sedimented to form mats. These mats were annealed at various temperatures ranging from 70_??_120°C, and then were dyed at 80°C with C. I. Disperse Yellow 7 (Y-7) or p-aminoazobenzene. The equilibrium sorption (
Mo), density, long period, and crystallinity (
Cv) obtained for these single crystal mats increased with an increase in annealing temperature (
Ta). These values increased rapidly over
Ta=110°C (
Cv=0.858). The change in
Mo was analyzed in terms of the mosaic-block dyeing model by use of above fine structural data. It was suggested that
Mo was governed by the sorption in the amorphous side region (
Ms) located between crystalline cores parallel to the molecular chain axis, and the sorption in the end amorphous region (
Me) located between lamellar surfaces was very small. From the view point of paracrystal model proposed by Hosemann, the amorphous side region corresponds to a grain boundary of microparacrystals. Hence, this region is rich in tie chains having trans type conformation. The difference between
Ms and
Me is attributable to the fraction of tie molecules on which a long rod-like molecule, Y-7, is easily absorbed; few tie molecules exist in the end region of a single crystal mat. The conformation of tie chains in side region probably becomes more extended by the thickening of lamellae during annealing. This leads to the increase in
Mo with increasing
Cv.
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