Terraces on banded spherulites of polyhydroxyalkanoates

On banded spherulites of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and its copolymers, fine circles were observed between either cross-polarizers or without polarizers. Atomic force microscopy was applied to confirm that these circles are terraces with heights up to several hundred nanometers rather than cracks. Real-time observation demonstrated that the terrace forms at the front of the growing spherulites just before or exactly when two spherulites impinge on each other. Terraces were observed on the spherulites crystallized from melt confined between glass or polyimide slides rather than poly(ethylene terephthalate) slides. The formation of the terraces may have resulted from instability of the moving boundary of the melt film confined between the spherulite surface and cover slide. Wettability of the substrate played an important role in the formation of the terraces. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.