Spatiotemporal emergence of lamellar branching morphology of polymer spherulite has been investigated theoretically in the framework of a phase field model by coupling a crystal solidification potential pertaining to a nonconserved crystal order parameter with a temperature field generated by latent heat of crystallization. A local free-energy density having an asymmetric double well has been u...

A computational study of the growth of two-dimensional nematic spherulites in an isotropic phase was performed using a Landau-de Gennes-type quadrupolar tensor order parameter model for the first-order isotropic/nematic transition of 5CB (pentylcyanobiphenyl). An energy balance, taking anisotropy into account, was derived and incorporated into the time-dependent model. Growth laws were determin...

Many structural materials (metal alloys, polymers, minerals, etc.) are formed by quenching liquids into crystalline solids. This highly nonequilibrium process often leads to polycrystalline growth patterns that are broadly termed "spherulites" because of their large-scale average spherical shape. Despite the prevalence and practical importance of spherulite formation, only rather qualitative co...

The equilibrium properties of spherulite assemblies in lyotropic lamellar phases are studied within both elastic and statistical models. Following previous models, the spherulites are assumed to be stabilized by their positive Gaussian curvature. Our model predicts that the spherulites should adopt a regular crystalline piling if their core energy E~ is much larger than k~ T, or a liquid-like p...