Crystallization-induced mechanofluorescence for visualization of polymer crystallization
Sota Kato, Shigeki Furukawa, Daisuke Aoki, Raita Goseki, Kazusato Oikawa, Kousuke Tsuchiya, Naohiko Shimada, Atsushi Maruyama, Keiji Numata, Hideyuki Otsuka
Abstract
The growth of lamellar crystals has been studied in particular for spherulites in polymeric materials. Even though such spherulitic structures and their growth are of crucial importance for the mechanical and optical properties of the resulting polymeric materials, several issues regarding the residual stress remain unresolved in the wider context of crystal growth. To gain further insight into micro-mechanical forces during the crystallization process of lamellar crystals in polymeric materials, herein, we introduce tetraarylsuccinonitrile (TASN), which generates relatively stable radicals with yellow fluorescence upon homolytic cleavage at the central C-C bond in response to mechanical stress, into crystalline polymers. The obtained crystalline polymers with TASN at the center of the polymer chain allow not only to visualize the stress arising from micro-mechanical forces during polymer crystallization via fluorescence microscopy but also to evaluate the micro-mechanical forces upon growing polymer lamellar crystals by electron paramagnetic resonance, which is able to detect the radicals generated during polymer crystallization.