Eur. Phys. J. E 34, 6 (2011)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2011-11006-y

Surface nucleation in the crystallisation of polyethylene droplets

Department of Physics & Astronomy and the Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

dalnoki@mcmaster.ca

Received: 22 September 2010
Accepted: 30 November 2010
Published online: 12 January 2011

Abstract

The division of semi-crystalline polymeric material into small domains is an effective tool for studying crystal nucleation. The scaling behavior of the nucleation rate as a function of domain size can reveal important information about the mechanism responsible for the birth of a crystal nucleus. We have investigated the process of crystal nucleation in a system of dewetted polyethylene droplets. Through the use of a correlation sample analysis, we are able to differentiate between heterogeneous and homogeneous nucleation mechanisms in a droplet sample. An analysis of the dependence of the nucleation rate on droplet size reveals that the nucleation probability scales with the surface area of the droplet.