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Propylene/1‐Hexene Copolymer as a Tailor‐Made Poly(propylene) for Membrane Preparation via the Thermally Induced Phase Separation (TIPS) Process
Author(s) -
Yave Wilfredo,
Quijada Raúl,
Lloyd Douglas R.,
Cerrada María L.,
Benavente Rosario,
Ulbricht Mathias
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.200500309
Subject(s) - materials science , membrane , comonomer , copolymer , polymer , tacticity , chemical engineering , diluent , post metallocene catalyst , polymer chemistry , composite material , polymerization , organic chemistry , metallocene , chemistry , engineering , genetics , biology
Summary: Poly[propylene‐ co ‐(1‐hexene)], one example of a “tailor‐made poly(propylene)”, was synthesized using an iso‐specific metallocene catalyst in order to study the influence of copolymer composition on the pore size of isotactic poly(propylene) (iPP) membranes prepared by the TIPS process. The structure of the copolymers and their properties in solution were analyzed and discussed in relation to the polymer‐diluent phase diagram, the droplet growth kinetics during the TIPS process, the viscosity of the system and the final pore size of the membranes. The crystallization curve in the phase diagram was found to shift significantly as comonomer content increased and thus the droplet growth period was drastically increased. The resulting increase of the characteristic pore size in the membranes demonstrated that it is possible to use tailor‐made poly(propylene)s to control the pore size in porous membranes prepared via the TIPS process (under otherwise constant conditions).Porous size is controlled by the polymer and the TIPS process.