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The P3 structural model is consistent with the various experimental data. The details are discussed in the original paper [46, 47]. Several representative points are listed below:

1 According to the International Tables for Crystallography [53], the (000l) diffractions are expected to appear for l = 6, 12, … in the case of the R3c model. But no such extinction rule is predicted for the P3 model. As seen in the actually measured Weissenberg pattern shown in Figure 6.20b, the 0003 diffraction was clearly observed in addition to 0006, 00012 peaks. The R3c model cannot satisfy this result.

2 Once the stereocomplex is formed, it does not transform to the α form anymore even after many repetitions of melting and slow cooling (Figure 6.17). The L or D chains are supposed to be trapped into the stereocomplex region without a remarkable change of the spatial arrangements.FIGURE 6.19 Crystal structure of PLLA (L)/PDLA (R) stereocomplex. One lattice site is statistically occupied by a pair of Rd and Lu chains and the neighboring site by a pair of Ru and Ld chains: (a) along the c‐axis and (b) along the 110 plane.Source: Reproduced from Tashiro et al., Macromolecules 2017, 50, 8048−8065.

3 The experimental data including the formation of the spherulites and the single crystal of the stereocomplex and the SAXS data analysis [77, 78] are interpreted by assuming the existence of the stacked lamellar structure with the upward and downward chain stems (or the folded chain structure). The R3c model is difficult to apply for the interpretation of these experimental data.

4 Another important experimental evidence to show the reasonableness of the P3 model comes from the vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) data. The VCD is one powerful technique to distinguish the R and L chains in the crystal lattice. The right‐handed and left‐handed rotating IR beams (r‐ and l‐circularly‐polarized beams, respectively) are incident to the sample. The l‐polarized IR beam is absorbed by the L chains and the r‐polarized IR beam by the R chains. The absorbance difference, ΔAbs(ν) = Abs L(ν) −Abs R(ν), is 0 if the L and D species are in the equal amounts in the sample, but it changes with other L/D blend ratios. Since the IR bands of the crystalline and amorphous phases can be distinguished easily, the measurement of ΔAbs for the crystalline bands can be used to study the R3c and P3 models. For the R3c model, the ΔAbs of the crystalline bands should be always 0 even when the L/D ratio is changed, while the ΔAbs may change depending on the R/L ratio for the P3 model.

FIGURE 6.20 (a) Comparison of the observed X‐ray diffraction profiles along the various layer lines with those calculated for the L/D 50/50 stereocomplex model of the P3 space group symmetry. An incident X‐ray is the Mo‐Kα line. (b) The Weissenberg 000l diffraction pattern measured for the L/D 50/50 stereocomplex. The diffraction profile was obtained by scanning the 2D pattern along the line of 000l.

Source: Reproduced from Tashiro et al., Macromolecules 2017, 50, 8048−8065.

Figure 6.21a shows the experimental results collected for the PLLA (L)/PDLA (R) blend samples cast from chloroform solutions. The thus‐prepared films are almost in the amorphous state. In the normal (not‐circularly‐polarized) IR spectra, the typical amorphous band is detected at about 1300 cm⁻¹, the absorbance of which does not change at all as long as the sample thickness is the same, because the L and R chains cannot be distinguished. But, the situation changes remarkably in the VCD spectra. Depending on the L/R content the ΔAbs changes between plus and minus values systematically. Figure 6.21a indicates that the L and R chains in the amorphous region are mixed homogeneously. Our attention should be drawn to the behavior of the crystallization‐sensitive bands of the stereocomplex. In the normal IR spectra, the heat treatment caused a reduction of the amorphous band intensity (broken line) and a remarkable increase of the 1306 cm⁻¹ band, which is assigned to the crystalline stereocomplex phase (Figure 6.21b). In the VCD spectra, ΔAbs(ν) of 1306 cm⁻¹ band changes systematically and quite clearly depending on the L/D ratio. This observation indicates that the L and R chains in the crystalline region of the stereocomplex changes their relative content systematically depending on the L/D blend ratio, being consistent with the X‐ray observation. In this way, it is reasonable to conclude that the L and R chain stems co‐crystallize in the same crystallite of the stereocomplex at various L/R contents in the region of 70/30 ≤ L/R < 40/60.