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Article: Folding into a pure paraffin crystal. (behavior of flexible polymers)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- August 3, 1985
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1985 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The spaghettilike molecules of polyethylene have a remarkable ability to disentangle themselves and settle, as neatly folded chains, into the form of crystals. This chain-folding behavior, found to be characteristic of many flexible polymers, is still largely unexplained. Recently, researchers discovered that shorter molecular strands, containing as few as 150 carbon atoms, also fold when they crystallize.
"Such behavior can be considered characteristic of the crystallization of .. flexible chains in general," conclude Andrew Keller and his colleagues at the University of Bristol in England. Their paper appears in the July 26 SCIENCE.
Polyethylene ...