Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34417451›Full record

ArticleNature communications2021

Bowls, vases and goblets-the microcrockery of polymer and nanocomposite morphology revealed by two-photon optical tomography.

Shu-Gui Yang, Zhen-Zhen Wei, Liliana Cseh, Pantea Kazemi, Xiang-Bing Zeng, Hui-Jie Xie, Hina Saba, Goran Ungar

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.

Shu-Gui YangState Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behaviour of Materials, Shaanxi International Research Centre for Soft Matter, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.ORCID 0000-0002-7696-9489
Zhen-Zhen WeiDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-1377-426X
Liliana CsehRomanian Academy, Coriolan Dragulescu Institute of Chemistry, Timisoara, Romania.ORCID 0000-0002-5862-7901
Pantea KazemiDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-8449-4831
Xiang-Bing ZengDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Hui-Jie XieDepartment of Physics, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China.
Hina SabaDepartment of Physics, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China.
Goran UngarState Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behaviour of Materials, Shaanxi International Research Centre for Soft Matter, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China. g.ungar@sheffield.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-9743-2656
University of Sheffield · GBXi'an Jiaotong University · CNZhejiang Sci-Tech University · CNRomanian Academy · ROSoochow University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

On the >1 µm scale the morphology of semicrystalline plastics like polyethylene or Nylon features spherulites, "shish-kebabs", cylinddrites and other crystalline aggregates which strongly affect mechanical and other material properties. Current imaging techniques give only a 2D picture of these objects. Here we show how they can be visualized in 3D using fluorescent labels and confocal microscopy. As a result, we see spherulites in 3D, both in neat polymers and their nanocomposites, and observe how unevenly nanoparticles and other additives are distributed in the material. Images of i-polypropylene and biodegradable poly(lactic acid) reveal previously unsuspected morphologies such as "vases" and "goblets", nonspherical "spherulites" and, unexpectedly, "shish-kebabs" grown from quiescent melt. Also surprisingly, in nanocomposite sheets spherulite nucleation is seen to be copied from one surface to another, mediated by crystallization-induced pressure drop and local melt-flow. These first results reveal unfamiliar modes of self-assembly in familiar plastics and open fresh perspectives on polymer microstructure.

Identifiers

PMID34417451
PMCPMC8379155
OpenAlexW3162546113

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.