| Institution: | 1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Kasetsart University, 50 Phaholyothin Rd., Jatujak, Bangkok, Thailand, 10900Department of Chemical Engineering, Kasetsart University, 50 Phaholyothin Rd., Jatujak, Bangkok, Thailand, 10900;2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Kasetsart University, 50 Phaholyothin Rd., Jatujak, Bangkok, Thailand, 10900;3. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1;4. Department of Chemistry, Kasetsart University, 50 Phaholyothin Rd., Jatujak, Bangkok, Thailand, 10900 |
| Abstract: | Crystallization analysis fractionation (Crystaf) is a polymer characterization technique for estimating the chemical composition distributions of semicrystalline copolymers. Although Crystaf has been widely used during the recent years, it is still a relatively new polymer characterization technique. More quantitative understanding of its fractionation mechanism is essential for further developments. In this work, three ethylene/1‐hexene copolymers with different 1‐hexene fractions, but similar number‐average molecular weights, were analyzed by Crystaf at several cooling rates. A mathematical model was proposed to describe the effect of comonomer fraction and cooling rate on Crystaf fractionation from a fundamental point of view. The model describes the experimental Crystaf profiles of ethylene/1‐hexene copolymers with different 1‐hexene fractions measured at distinct cooling rates very well. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1010–1017, 2007 |
