Chain folding in single crystals of polytetrafluoroethylene.

Potential-energy calculations are performed in order to obtain satisfactory models for folding in single crystals of polytetrafluoroethylene crystallized in the phase stable below 19°C. The folds are assumed to be tight with adjacent reentry. Folds with a variable number of bonds are analyzed. Their conformation is deduced by a method which obtains closure between two semifolds into which each fold is decomposed. The allowed models are subsequently investigated by using an energy minimization program. Some possible models are proposed. The calculations show that the folds must be described by a number of rotational isomeric states higher than is usually assumed.