Electron microscopic observation on the polymerized materials from .BETA.-alanine single crystal in the solid state.

Abstract

Morphology of poly (β-alanine) crystal, which was formed through the thermal solid state polycondensation procedure from β-alanine monomer single crystal, was observed mainly by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy. In the early stage of the polymerization reaction at 150°C, the surface of the specimen was found to be covered by the aggregation of the rod-like materials (ca. 1μm thick and 10μm long). The fibrillar structure was observed on the surface in the final stage of the reac-tion. Each fibril is about 100nm in diameter. Decreasing the reaction temperature to 130°C, it was found on the basis of the X-ray diffraction results that the direction of the polymer chains corresponds to the long axis of the monomer molecules in the original monomer single crystal. There were two principle directions for the morphological fiber axis and the fibrils overlapped each other crosswise.