Solution-Grown Crystals of Poly(p-phenylene benzobisthiazole)

Rigid polymer poly(p-phenylene benzobisthiazole) was crystallized from dilute solution. Electron microscopy showed that upon quenching, flat fibrils with several nm thick were produced. Subsequent heat treatment in solvent changed the fibril into "shish-kebab". On the other hand, by isothermal crystallization, an aggregate of parallel rod-like crystals was obtained. The molecular chains were accommodated normal to the rod. Based on the observation of crystal morphology, the isothermal crystallization mechanism was proposed. Because of regidity of polymer chains and wide distribution of the molecular length, the chain ends were inevitably included within the crystals resulting in crystal defects such as axial shift, lattice curvature and edge dislocation which were directly observed by lattice imaging.