Influence of the surface morphology on the melting of polymer crystals. I. Loops of random length and adjacent reentry

A polymer crystal with a noncrystalline surface layer formed by chain loops of different lengths is considered. It is assumed that the length of each loop can be changed by longitudinal diffusion of the molecule through the crystal lattice. From the condition that the free energy of the system is minimum, the loop length distribution and the average loop length as function of temperature are calculated. In contrast to the results for loops of equal length, for the present model, a substantial thickness of the noncrystalline surface layer and a broad melting range is obtained also for the case of adjacent reentry. In order to get this result one has to take into account that even an “ideal fold” consists of at least four rigidly arranged CH2 groups in energetically unfavored conformation.