SEMI-QUANTITATIVE CHARACTERIZATION OF SEGMENT DISTRIBUTION IN LLDPE BASED ON THERMAL SEGREGATION

Based on successive multiple-step isothermal crystallization and self-nucleation annealing methods, a novel semi-quantitative method for the characterization of segment distribution in linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) wasestablished by treating the thermal analysis data using the Gibbs-Thomson equation. The method was used to describe thesegment distribution of Ziegler-Natta catalyzed LLDPE (Z-N LLDPE), metallocene catalyzed LLDPE (m-LLDPE) and twoconunercial LLDPEs with wide molecular weight distribution. The differences of the results obtained from the two thermallytreated samples were compared. The results of segmeni distribution of the polymers were discussed according to theirmicrostructure data and were compared with their characteristics. It can be deduced from the results that this characterizationmethod is effective to characterize the sequence structure of the branched ethylene copolymers.     

ANALYSIS OF BRANCHING DISTRIBUTION IN POLYETHYLENES BY DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETRY

Short chain branching has been characterized using thermal fractionation, a stepwise isothermal crystallizationtechnique, followed by a melting analysis scan using differential scanning calorimetry. Short chain branching distributionwas also characterized by a continuous slow cooling crystallization, followed by a melting analysis scan. Four differentpolyethylenes were studied: Ziegler-Natta gas phase, Ziegler-Natta solution, metallocene, constrained-geometry single sitecatalyzed polyethylenes. The branching distribution was calculated from a calibration of branch content with meltingtemperature. The lamellar thickness was calculated based on the thermodynamic melting temperature of each polyethyleneand the surface free energy of the crystal face. The branching distribution and lamellar thickness distribution were used tocalculate weight average branch content, mean lamellar thickness, and a branch dispersity index. The results for the branchcontent were in good agreement with the known comonomer content of the polyethylenes. A limitation was that high branchcontent polyethylenes did not reach their potential crystallization at ambient temperatures. Cooling to sub-ambient wasnecessary to equilibrate the crystallization, but melting temperature versus branch content was not applicable after cooling tobelow ambient because the calibration data were not performed in this way.     

DETECTION OF T_g BY MODULATED DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETRY

The glassy transition of the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sampleswhich have been subjected to solvent induced crystallization (SINC) was investigated bymodulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC) and density measurement. The dif-ferential of heat capacity signal, d C_p/dT from MDSC, was used to monitor the SINCprocess. It reveals that the T_g temperature shifts to higher value with the advancement ofSINC. When the toluene-immersing time was longer (168h), the detection of T_g becomemore difficult, because some smaller peaks emerged at the lower temperatures and theseare explained as the movement of small segments in the amorphous region. These observedresults are due to the morphology and structure introduced by the SINC process.     

THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF KINETICS OF NONISOTHERMAL CRYSTALLIZATION OF POLYMERS

The classical crystallization theories proposed by Avrami, Evans, and Mandelkern wereextended to the nonisothermal situation. The expressions derived from the classical equations canbe expressed in either the differential form or the integral form. A method was provided so as toobtain the parameters characterizing the crystallization rate and mechanism from DSC curves withseveral constant heating or cooling rates. The rate constants of crystallization obtained from bothisothermal and nonisothermal curves of poly(ethylene terephthalate)were compared.     

STRESS-INDUCED CRYSTALLIZATION OF POLYURETHANE/MONTMORILLONITE NANOCOMPOSITE

Exfoliated polyurethane/montmorillonite nanocomposites with both high elongation at break and high tensilestrength were studied by dynamic-infrared spectroscopy (dynamic-IR). The results show that crystallization induced byadditional stress is impeded by the nano-layered organo montmorillonite.     

CRYSTALLIZATION KINETICS OF HOMOGENEOUS AND HETEROGENEOUS LLDPE

Based on thermal analysis, the isothermal and nonisothemal crystallization kinetics of Ziegler-Natta catalyzedlinear low density polyethylene (Z-N LLDPE) and metallocene catalyzed LLDPE (m-LLDPE) were studied. Treating theresults with the Avrami equation and the Ozawa equation, the crystallization constant lgk and the Avrami exponent n wereobtained. Some other crystallization parameters were also discussed. According to the different characteristics of the chainstructures of Z-N LLDPE and metallocene LLDPE, their crystallizaton behaviors were analyzed. It is indicated that thehomogeneity and heterogeneity of the two polymers act in different way during the crystallization process of polymers,including the nucleation and the growth of crystals under various conditions.     

CRYSTALLIZATION SEGREGATION DSC STUDIES OF PP/PE COPOLYMERS

 The structural analysis of two PP/PE copolymer samples, I and 2, was conducted by using ¹³C-NMR, GPC and crystallization segregation DSC (CSDSC) techniques. A pure polypropylene sample was also used for comparison. It was found that the two copolymer samples are very close in composition (the ethylene mol content is 4.3% and 4.5%,respectively), stereoregularity (96% and 97%) and molecular weight (M_w, = 7.0 x 10⁴ and 7.3x10⁴; M_w/M_n = 5.0 and 6.1,respectively). While the CSDSC thermograms of the two samples are quite different from each other. Sample 1 shows a higher average melting temperature and a broader distribution of its thermogram. These phenomena were explained as an indication of a less uniform distribution of ethylene units along the PP chains for sample 1. It was noted that CSDSC is a very sensitive and convenient technique for structural studies of copolymers.     

CRYSTALLIZATION AND MELTING OF NYLON 610

Differential scanning calorimetry was used to study the crystallization andmelting of nylon 610. For nylon 610 crystallized from the melt state (260℃), the overall rateof bulk crystallization can be described by a simple Avrami equation with Avrami exponentn ≈ 2, independent of crystallization temperature. With the experimentally obtainedT_m~0 (235℃ ～ 255℃) of nylon 610, the fold surface free energy σ_e was determined to be35 ～38 erg/cm~2. The effects of annealing temperature and time on the melting of quenchednylon 610 were also investigated. For nylon 610 quenched at room temperature there isonly one DSC endotherm peak DSC scans on annealed samples exhibited an endothermpeak at approximately 10℃ above the annealing temperature. The size and position of theendothermic peak is strongly related to annealing temperature and time. An additionalthird melting was observed when quenched nylon 610 was annealed at high temperaturefor a sufficiently long residence time. The existence of the third melting peak suggests thatmore than one kind of distribution of lamella thickness may occur when quenched nylon610 is annealed. The implications of these results in terms of crystal thickening mechanismwere discussed.     

INVESTIGATION OF THE TRANSITIONS OF OLIGO-POLYSULFONES BY DSC

The transitions of bisphenol A and phenolphthalein o|igopolysulfones were investigated by DSC. It is found that both the oligomers have three transitions within the temperature range (230-550K) studied. Considering the strong dependence of the appearance of the two transitions, lower and higher than T_g, on the specimens' thermal history, i. e., temperature and time of heat-treatment, and their particular molecular strueture, it is proposed that these two transitions are morphological in origin arid are due to the disordering of relatively short range order of very small regions, and to the disordering of relatively well-ordered intraor/and intermoleeular segments, respectively. Equations for linear relationship between T_g and 1/_n for both the oligomers are given in the paper.     

A STUDY ON THE CRYSTALLIZATION KINETICS OF NYLON 1010

The kinetic behavior of isohermal and nonisothermal crystallization of nylon-1010has been studied by means of dilatometry and differential scanning calorimetry, respec-tively. The isothermal and nonisothermal process can be descibed by Avrami equationand Ozawa equation, respectively. From the experimental results the kinetic paramters ofcrystallization and crystalline mechanism for isothermal and nonisothermal measurementsare discussed.     

THERMAL ANALYSIS OF ACRYLIC FIBERS

This is a comprehensive survey of our work during the past thirteen years on the thermal analysis of acrylic fiber, including some recent, unpublished results.     

STUDIES ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND CRYSTALLIZATION BEHAVIOR OF POLYETHYLENE COMPOSITES

The effects of inter facial modifier on the mechanical, dynamic mechanical properties andcrystallization behavior of the polyethylene composites were investigated in the present paper.It was found that the interfacial modifer significantly improved the mechanical properties,influenced the dynamic mechanical spectra and slightly changed the crystallization behavior.The results showed that the interfacial modifier changed the dispersion state of dispersedphase of the composites, resulting in different phase structure, which was the major reasonIeading to different mechanical and crystallization properties.     

CHARACTERIZATION OF γ-IRRADIATED CRYSTALLINE POLYMERS Ⅰ. CHARACTERIZATION OF γ-RADIATION INDUCED CROSSLINKED POLYAMIDE 1010 BY CRYSTALLIZATION TEMPERATURE*

The effect of ~(50)Co γ-radiation on plain polyamide 1010 (PA1010 Ⅰ) and PA1010 containing dif-ferent amount of crosslinking agent (BMI) (PA1010 Ⅱ) both in vacuum and in air at room tempera-ture was investigated with DSC. It was found that the crystallization temperature T_c of crosslinkedsample determined with DSC at constant cooling rate decreased as the radiation dose increased. Thedifference between crystallization temperatures before and after crosslinking (T_(c_o)-T_(c_R) is linearlyrelated to the radiation dose for PA1010I. Based on the Charlesby-Pinner's equation an expressionwas derived S+S~(1/2)=A+B/(T_(c_o)-T_(c_R)) where S is the sol fraction, A and B are constants. Since thereis evidence that T_c is relative to S only and independent of the way of irradiation, the equation is alsoapplicable to the enhanced γ-irradiation crosslinked PA1010 Ⅱ. Therefore, determination of T_cof crosslinked polymer by DSC offers a convenient approach to study quantitatively the random andespecially non-random crosslinking reaction of crystalline polymer.     

CHARACTERIZATION OF COMPOSITIONAL HETEROGENEITY OF SEGMENTED COPOLYMERS BY GPC TECHNIQUE

The GPC technique wth two detectors has been used to study the heterogeneity in compositionthard segment content) of a series of polyethylene terephthalate/polycaprolactone segmented copoly-mers. Improvement in data treatment has been made to avoid the difficulty resulted from the lake oflow molecular weight hard segment homopolymers. Results show that for each sample the moleculesof larger coil size in CHCI_3 usually have higher hard segment content. A parameter, the averagedeviation of hard segment content, has been proposed to characterize the heterogeneity in compositionof the samples. It is found that the heterogeneity of the samples increases with increasing theiraverage hard segment content.     

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS AND ENVIRONMENTAL STABILITY OF POLYFLUORINATED GROUP SUBSTITUTED POLYTHIOPHENES

Electrochemical polymerization of 3-fluoroalkoxy and 3-fluoroether thiophenes givespolymers with relatively high molecular weights and good processibility. Investigationof these polymers by means of GPC indicates that an increase in the number of fluorineatoms in the fluorinated group results in a decrease in degree of polymerization of thepolymers in the same polythiophene series. As shown by NMR and FTIR, the polyfluo-rinated group substituted polythiophenes have regular 2, 5-coupling in their main chains.The SEM micrographs of the polymer films exhibit that polymer (1)-poly [3-2, 2, 3, 3-tetrafluoro-propoxy) thiophene] possesses more regular structure than the other polymersdo. Substitution of polythiophenes by fluorinated groups leads to the polymers with highelectric, electrochemical and thermal stability.     

SYNTHESIS AND CRYSTALLIZATION BEHAVIOR OF POLY(ETHER ETHER KETONE ETHER KETONE)(PEEKEK)*

In this paper, the synthesis and crystallization behavior of poly(ether ether ketone ether ketone) (PEEKEK) arereported. PEEKEK was prepared from 4,4'-bis(p-fluorobenzoyl) diphenyl ether (4,4'-FBDE) and hydroquinone along thenucleophilic substitution route. The thermal properties were investigated by using DSC and TGA. The crystallizationbehavior of PEEKEK under several conditions, i.e., crystallization from the molten state (melt crystallization), crystallizationfrom a quenched sample (cold crystallization) and crystallization induced by exposing glassy sample to methylene chloride(solvent-induced crystallization) has also been investigated. The results show that crystallization of PEEKEK could beinduced by the above methods, and no polymorphism was found. The diflierences in the crystallization of PEEKEK inducedby the above methods are seen in their degree of crystallinity.     

THE ORIENTATION AND CRYSTALLIZATION OF POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE

The drawing behavior of three types of PET spherulites and PET amorphous samples have beenstudied. Two different sample preparation techniques were used in this study: (1) The films withnormal positive, normal negative or abnormal spherulites were prepared by solution casting tech-niques, then the films were deformed by uniaxial drawing. The uniaxial drawing behavior of PETspherulites appears to be dependent on the angles between the c-axis and the radius direction of thespherulites and that the deformation of spherulites becomes more difficult the larger the angles. (2)Amorphous films of PET were prepared first, then the films were deformed under uniaxial drawingto achieve c-axis orientation at a temperature near the glass transition temperature. The orientedfilms were subsequently annealed with fixed length at 215℃The films prepared in this way ex-hibit excellent c-axis orientation along the stretching direction. The degree of perfection of thecrystalline structure is much greater than that of the spherulites.     

CRYSTALLIZATION KINETICS OF ETHYLENE-PROPYLENE COPOLYMERS PREPARED BY LIVING COORDINATION POLYMERIZATION

In this paper,crystallization kinetics of a series of ethylene-propylene copolymers prepared by living polymerization coordination catalyzed by a fluorinated bis(phenoxyimine)Ti catalyst(FI-EP copolymers)was studied,and was compared with that of ethylene-propylene copolymers prepared by a conventional Ziegler-Natta catalyst(ZN-EP copolymers).It is found that,the Avrami exponent and the crystallization rate constant of the FI-EP and ZN-EP copolymer show similar dependence on crystallization temperature,bu...     

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF COMB-SHAPED POLYBUTADIENES

Polybutadiene (PB) was chlorinated with t-BuOCl without chain crosslinking and degradation togive chlorinated polybutadiene (Cl--PB) with active allylic chlorine atoms on the backbone. Comb-shaped PB was prepared by coupling of Cl--PB with "living" PB anions in a mixed solvent of cyc-lohexane and tetrahydrofuran. Characterization by GPC and osmometry showed that purifiedproducts were welldefined comb-shaped PB composed of low polydispersity backbone chain andrandomly distributed grafts of uniform length. The averagr number of branches could be variedin a wide range to meet the needs of structure-properties relationship studies.     

CONFORMATIONAL PROPERTIES OF STRETCHED POLYETHYLENE CHAIN*

 When polyethylene chains are stretched, the chains are regarded as being confined in an infinite cylinder withdecreasing diameter. The conformational properties of polyethylene chains confined in an infinite cylinder are investigatedby using rotational isomeric state model. Using the average conformational energy and entropy and the average length, wecan determine the elastic force f or the fraction of the energy term to the total forcef_e/f,where f_e=?<∪>/?and f=?/?.Comparisons with experimental data are also made.The results of these microscopic calculations are discussed in therms of the macroscopic phenomena of rubber elasticity.