High-density polyethylene crystals with double melting peaks induced by ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene fibre

High-density polyethylene (HDPE)/ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibre composites were prepared via solution crystallization to investigate the components of epitaxial crystal growth on a highly oriented substrate. Scanning electron microscopy morphologies of HDPE crystals on UHMWPE fibres revealed that the edge-on ribbon pattern crystals that were formed initially on UHMWPE fibres converted afterwards to a sheet shape as crystallization progressed. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction confirmed that the polymer chain oriented along the fibre axis and the orthorhombic crystal form of HDPE remained unchanged in HDPE/UHMWPE fibre composite systems. The thermal behaviour of the fibre composites measured by differential scanning calorimetry showed double melting peaks, the nature of which, as disclosed by partial melting experiments, is ascribed to bilayer components existing in the induced crystals: the inner layer is composed of more regularly folded chain crystals induced by UHMWPE fibres, and the outer layer formed on the inner one with a thinner and lower ordered crystal structure.