Thickening Processes of Lamellar Crystal Monolayers of a Low‐Molecular‐Weight PEO Fraction on a Solid Surface

Using hot-stage atomic force microscopy, the thickening processes of monolayer crystals of PEO (M n = 5 000 g mol -1 1 and M w /M n =1.008) from one-folded (FC1) to extended-chain (EC) lamellae are experimentally monitored at three temperatures: 50, 52, and 58 °C. At 50 °C some small areas in large FC1 crystals spontaneously thicken into EC crystals. At 52 °C the spontaneously thickened area further expands so as to inductively thicken the entire FC1 lamella into EC lamella. At 58 °C EC crystals first force the adjacent FC1 crystals to melt and then absorb the melted molecules to grow laterally into large EC lamellae till all FC1 lamellae vanish. The three thickening steps express the main thickening process of lamellar crystals from a metastable state to another metastable (or equilibrium) state. The possible mechanisms are discussed in the text.