Small-angle neutron scattering from solution-crystallized and melt-crystallized polyethylene

Results are presented and analyzed for mixtures of normal and deuterated polyethylene. Some of the results are used to determine single-chain radii of gyration in bulk polyethylene. The radii of gyration are found to be smaller for solution-crystallized samples than for melt-crystallized samples and smaller for slowly crystallized samples than for rapidly crystallized samples. Although the data are not always consistent, comparison of Kratky plots in the higher-Q region with Yoon-Flory model calculations suggests that the solution-grown samples show adjacent reentry whereas melt-crystallized samples do not.