Abstract

In the past, studies have been performed to follow chain dynamics in an equilibrium polymer melt using low molar mass polymers. Here we show that in linear ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene entanglements formed during or after polymerization are influencing differently the overall chain topology of the polymer melt. When a disentangled UHMWPE sample is crystallized under isothermal conditions after melting, two endothermic peaks are observed. The high temperature peak is related to the melting of crystals obtained on crystallization from the disentangled domains of the heterogeneous (nonequilibrium) polymer melt, whereas the low melting temperature peak is related to the melting of crystals formed from entangled domains of the melt. On increasing the annealing time in melt, the enthalpy of the lower melting temperature peak increases at the expense of the high melting temperature peak due to the transformation of the disentangled nonequilibrium melt into the entangled equilibrium one. However, indep...

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