Abstract
The rapidity of crystal growth from undercooled polymer melts precludes transformation of the randomly coiled macromolecules to the regularly folded morphology generally ascribed to semicrystalline polymers. The topology of the copiously interspersed chains in the liquid state must be largely conserved during the process of crystallisation, preexisting entanglements being concentrated in the non-crystalline regions © 1978 Nature Publishing Group.