Unexpected Shish-Kebab Structure with Multiple Shish in Shear-Induced Polyethylene Melt (Hsiao): 

Scanning electron micrographs of a solvent-extracted sheared polymer blend revealed, for the first time, an unexpected shish-kebab structure with multiple shish. The studied polymer blend contained 2 wt% of crystallizing ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene and 98 wt% of non-crystallizing polyethylene matrix. Formation of multiple shish was attributed to the coil-stretch transition occurring in sections of UHMWPE chains. Synchrotron X-ray data provided a clear evidence of the hypothesis that multiple shish originate from stretched chain sections and the kebabs from the crystallization of coiled segments/chains by a diffusion-controlled process.

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