Epitaxial crystallization of precisely chlorine-substituted polyethylene induced by carbon nanotube and graphene

Abstract We report morphology, thermal analysis and beam diffraction of polyethylene chlorine-substituted precisely on every 21st backbone carbon, after solution crystallization induced by low-dimensional carbonaceous nanofillers (carbon nanotube and graphene). Kebab-like and rod-like nanofiller-induced crystals were separately observed on the surfaces of carbon nanotube and graphene. Fast-scan differential scanning calorimetry revealed that while the melting point of crystals grown on carbon nanotube remains close to that in the bulk phase, the melting point of crystals grown on graphene is 75 °C higher. X-ray diffraction and selected area electron diffraction suggested that graphene induces the formation of orthorhombic form, which is of higher density than the triclinic form in the bulk.