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Melt rheological and thermodynamic properties of polyethylene homopolymers and poly(ethylene/α‐olefin) copolymers with respect to molecular composition and structure
Author(s) -
Kim Y. S.,
Chung C. I.,
Lai S. Y.,
Hyun K. S.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19960103)59:1<125::aid-app18>3.0.co;2-z
Subject(s) - branching (polymer chemistry) , copolymer , melt flow index , materials science , polyethylene , polymer chemistry , linear low density polyethylene , polymer , ethylene vinyl acetate , ethylene , high density polyethylene , rheology , chemical engineering , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , catalysis , engineering
Various types of polyethylene homopolymers and copolymers, including linear high‐density polyethylene (HDPE), branched low‐density polyethylene (BLDPE), poly(ethylene vinyl acetate) copolymer (EVA), heterogeneous linear poly(ethylene/α‐olefin) copolymer (het‐LEAO) or commonly known as linear low‐density polyethylene, homogeneous linear poly(ethylene/α‐olefin) copolymer (hom‐LEAO), and homogeneous branched poly(ethylene/α‐olefin) copolymer (hom‐BEAO), were evaluated for their melt rheological and thermodynamic properties with emphasis on their molecular structure. Short‐chain branching (SCB) mainly controls the density, but it has little effect on the melt rheological properties. Long‐chain branching (LCB) has little effect on the density and thermodynamic properties, but it has drastic effects on the melt rheological properties. LCB increases the pseudo‐plasticity and the flow activation energy for both the polyethylene homopolymer and copolymer. Compared at a same melt index and a similar density, hom‐LEAO has the highest viscosity in processing among all polymers due to its linear molecular structure and very narrow molecular weight distribution. Small amounts of LCB in hom‐BEAO very effectively reduce the average viscosity and also improve the flow stability. Both hom‐LEAO and hom‐BEAO, unlike het‐LEAO, have thermodynamic properties similar to BLDPE. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.