Crystalline and Spherulitic Morphology of Polymers Crystallized in Confined Systems

Due to the effects of microphase separation and physical dimensions, confinement widely exists in the multi-component polymer systems (e.g., polymer blends, copolymers) and the polymers having nanoscale dimensions, such as thin films and nanofibers. Semicrystalline polymers usually show different crystallization kinetics, crystalline structure and morphology from the bulk when they are confined in the nanoscale environments; this may dramatically influence the physical performances of the resulting materials. Therefore, investigations on the crystalline and spherulitic morphology of semicrystalline polymers in confined systems are essential from both scientific and technological viewpoints; significant progresses have been achieved in this field in recent years. In this article, we will review the recent research progresses on the crystalline and spherulitic morphology of polymers crystallized in the nanoscale confined environments. According to the types of confined systems, crystalline, spherulitic morphology and morphological evolution of semicrystalline polymers in the ultrathin films, miscible polymer blends and block copolymers will be summarized and reviewed.