Can the Structures of Semicrystalline Polymers be Controlled Using Interfacial Crystallographic Interactions?

Polymer epitaxy defines the crystallographic orientation of overgrowing polymer. It controls several aspects of the structure of semicrystalline polymers, such as fixed mutual chain orientation, certain crystal structures of polymorphic polymers, and the spatial arrangement of planar backbone molecular chains. Therefore, epitaxial crystallization provides a simple and efficient way to fabricate special structures with improved properties and even introduce new functionality for polymeric materials. Besides achieving structural control of single polymer systems, technical development in the field of structural and morphological manipulation of multiphase and multicomponent polymer systems is another important and challenging issue for the advanced application of polymeric materials.