Specific features of structure and properties of solutions, melts and solid states of polymers in confined nanometric volumes

The data on the influence of spatial restrictions on the structure and properties of polymers are analyzed. It is demonstrated that dispersion of polymers into aggregates of nanometre size critically changes all their characteristics in consequence of conformational restructuring of the polymeric chains. The spatial restrictions affect both characteristics of phase transitions in polymers (the crystallization and melting points, heat of melting and the degree of crystallinity decrease) and the processes of orientation of crystallites in asymmetric volumes of nanometre size. It is shown that these effects are primarily related to the changes in relative contribution of the stages of nucleation and growth of crystallite to the overall process occurring in confined volumes. Comparative analysis of the effects of spatial restrictions on the processes of crystallization of polymers and low-molecular-mass compounds is carried out. The similarity in changes in thermodynamic characteristics for both series of compounds is revealed.
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