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Updated: Sep 20, 2025

Synthesis of Cyclic Polymers and Characterization of Their Diffusive Motion in the Melt State at the Single Molecule Level
Published on: September 26, 2016
Role of Thermal History and Entanglement Related Thickness Selection in Polymer Crystallization
Chuanfu Luo1, Jens-Uwe Sommer1,2
1Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Hohe Strasse 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany.
Abstract:
Using molecular dynamics simulations and primitive path analysis, we show that hot entangled polymer melts can crystallize faster with higher crystallinities and larger crystalline stem lengths, as compared to cold melts under rapid quenching conditions or during cold-crystallization. This counterintuitive phenomenon similar to the so-called Mpemba effect observed for water can be explained by the temperature dependence of entanglements. Our results demonstrate the key role of the entanglement state for crystallization properties and provide a new approach to understand the role of thermal history and to the open question of thickness selection in polymer crystallization.
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