Study on morphology and crystal growth of syndiotactic polystyrene solution-grown crystals by transmission electron and atomic force microscopy

The morphology of solution-grown crystals (SGCs) of syndiotactic polysthyrene (s-PS) has been investigated using transmission electron and atomic force microscopy (TEM and AFM). Well-defined s-PS SGCs were prepared from 0.005% (w/w) n-tetradecane/decahydronaphthalene solution 2:1 (v/v) by an isothermal crystallization method at 200 °C. Lattice constants for this crystal estimated by TEM with the diffraction mode are a=0.90 nm, b=2.88 nm. AFM images of the folded chains on the surface of s-PS SGC suggested their alignment parallel to the direction of the growth face of the truncated-lozenge shaped crystal. The angle between the growth faces obtained from s-PS SGCs was 130°. Since, the value of 130° correspond to the {230} angle, the primary growth face of s-PS SGC was assigned to the (230) plane.