A High Number of Adsorption Sites per Polymer Chain Promotes Nucleation and Growth of Edge-on Lamellar Crystals in Ultrathin Films of Poly( l -lactic acid)
Using atomic force microscopy, we investigated crystallization in equilibrated layers of adsorbed poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) chains on silicon wafers. The resulting lamellar crystals exhibited a predominant edge-on orientation. With increasing molecular weight, this tendency became even more pronounced. Complementary...