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Manipulation of Molecular Weight Distribution Shape as a New Strategy to Control Processing Parameters
Author(s) -
Nadgorny Milena,
Gentekos Dillon T.,
Xiao Zeyun,
Singleton S. Parker,
Fors Brett P.,
Connal Luke A.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.201700352
Subject(s) - dispersity , polymer , rheology , molar mass distribution , materials science , glass transition , work (physics) , chemical engineering , thermal stability , polymer chemistry , chemical physics , thermodynamics , chemistry , composite material , physics , engineering
Molecular weight and dispersity ( Ð ) influence physical and rheological properties of polymers, which are of significant importance in polymer processing technologies. However, these parameters provide only partial information about the precise composition of polymers, which is reflected by the shape and symmetry of molecular weight distribution (MWD). In this work, the effect of MWD symmetry on thermal and rheological properties of polymers with identical molecular weights and Ð is demonstrated. Remarkably, when the MWD is skewed to higher molecular weight, a higher glass transition temperature ( T g ), increased stiffness, increased thermal stability, and higher apparent viscosities are observed. These observed differences are attributed to the chain length composition of the polymers, easily controlled by the synthetic strategy. This work demonstrates a versatile approach to engineer the properties of polymers using controlled synthesis to skew the shape of MWD.