Under stress: A high level of crystallinity in polymers does not impair ductility and elastic performance if a stress-induced martensitic crystal–crystal phase transition takes place (see picture; c: unit cell axis, h: helical form, t: trans-planar form). This type of elasticity is not merely entropic but also partly enthalpic, and therefore similar to the superelasticity of shape-memory alloys.
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Auriemma et al. (2007) studied this question.
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