Effect of rigidity on the crystallization processes of short polymer melts

Order formation in crystallization processes of the dense melts of chain molecules has been studied by the coarse-grained molecular dynamics method. For semirigid molecules, the parallel orientation and elongation of chains take place simultaneously. However, for semiflexible molecules, long induction periods are observed. Time evolution studies of local order parameters indicated that two different processes occur, which implies that a precondition exists. For flexible molecules, the structures become mostly amorphous at certain sharp threshold conditions of chain rigidity. It was determined that the rigidity of the main chains strongly influences the dynamic behavior of crystallization for dense melts, particularly in the early stage.