At a definite temperature of crystallization, the structure of melt-grown lamellae of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) depends on the thickness of the seeds. Lamellae which are far from equilibrium with the melt grow irreversibly at constant thickness. They select in a polydisperse PEO fraction the molecules which have the adequate length. These facts are in contradiction with the predictions of the standard theory of polymer crystallization. They add conclusive experimental support to the author's recently proposed alternative approach to the mechanism of crystallization of long-chain compounds. The discussion includes the interpretation of the breaks observed in curves which give the thermal dependence of the crystal growth rate of many linear polymers.
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J. J. Point (1997) studied this question.