Effect of UV Irradiation on Gas Permeability in Heterophasic Ethylene-Propylene Copolymer Films

Abstract

The permeability variations of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen through isotactic polypropylene, heterophasic ethylene-propylene (E-P) copolymers, and polyethylene films were measured during photo-oxidation using polychromatic light at 60°C in air. For polypropylenebased samples the permeability decreases with increasing photooxidation, whereas for polyethylene and an elastomeric fraction from a heterophasic E-P copolymer an increase in permeability with photooxidation is observed.     

Characterization of impact polypropylene copolymers by solvent fractionation

The compositional heterogeneity of two impact polypropylene copolymers(IPCs) was studied by a combinatory investigation of temperature rising elution fractionation(TREF) and solvent fractionation.The chain structures and composition of fractions obtained from solvent fractionation were examined in detail.The TREF results shows that there are much more E-P segmented copolymer and more uniform distribution of ethylene sequence in IPC-1,which is responsible for its better comprehensive mechanical performance.The fractions from hexane and heptane are ethylene-propylene rubber phase and E-P block copolymers respectively.The result of solvent fractionation method also shows that custom hexane or heptane extractions can not extract the E-P copolymer completely.     

Aging and degradation of polyolefins. III. Polyethylene and ethylene–propylene copolymers

Rates of oxygen absorption and formation of oxidation products were determined in γ-initiated oxidations of thin films of high- and low-density polyethylene, atactic and isotactic polypropylene, and of three ethylene–propylene copolymers. Radiation yields G for O₂ absorbed and formation of hydroperoxides depend on dose rates and decrease sharply with increasing ethylene content of the copolymers and moderately with increasing crystallinity of any base polymer. G values for dialkyl peroxide and carbonyl formation, and therefore for chain initiation and termination, do not change much with polymer composition and crystallinity and not at all with dose rates. A few experiments with atactic polypropylene and an amorphous ethylene–propylene copolymer, initiated by di-tert-butylperoxy oxalate, indicate that 37 mole-% of ethylene in the polymer increases the efficiency of initiation and the tendency toward crosslinking.     

低乙烯含量聚丙烯共聚物结晶成核剂研究

利用ＤＳＣ和偏光显微镜等手段研究了部分成核剂对聚丙烯均聚物（ＰＰ）、低乙烯含量聚丙烯共聚物及聚丙烯／聚乙烯（ＰＰ／ＰＥ）共混物结晶行为的影响，结果表明所用成核剂对ＰＰ和改性ＰＰ具有一定的普适性。聚丙烯共聚物中，由于链结构规整性变差，成核剂的作用显得特别突出，而ＰＰ／ＰＥ共混物中，由于成核剂向ＰＥ相迁移而使其对ＰＰ结晶的成核效率降低。     

Surface properties of plasma-modified polypropylene and propylene-hexene-1 copolymer films

The surface properties of polypropylene and propylene and hexene-1 copolymers synthesized on the rac-Me₂SiInd₂ZrCl₂-polymethylalumoxane isocpecific metallocene system and the Ph₂C(Cp)(Flu)ZrCl₂-polymethylalumoxane syndiospecific system were studied. It was found that syndiotactic polypropylene films were less hydrophobic than isotactic polypropylene films, whereas the films of propylene and hexene-1 copolymers were less hydrophobic than the films of corresponding homopolymers. The hydrophobicity of samples decreased with the hexene-1 content of the copolymer. Treatment in a dc discharge resulted in noticeable surface hydrophilization in all of the test polymer samples. There is a correlation between the surface parameters and the density of surface charge induced in the polymers by dc discharge treatment.     

Crystal phase transformations within propylene/hexene-1 copolymers films as induced by direct current discharge treatment

The effect of a direct current discharge on the films of polypropylene and copolymers of propylene and hexene-1 synthesized with an isospecific catalytic system, rac-Me₂SiInd₂ZrCl₂-polymethylaluminoxane, was investigated. The treatment of isotactic polypropylene films by the discharge did not affect the ratio of crystalline phases in the polymer to a measurable extent. However, for the plasma treated films of copolymers of propylene and hexene-1 (the hexene-1 content of 1-2 mol%), a structural transformation of γ-modification into α-modification has been noticed. The observed phase transition has no apparent relation to any changes in microstructure of the copolymer chain because melting temperature values and the stereoregularity parameters of the samples remained practically unchanged. An experimental investigation of the specific influence exerted by individual components of a direct current discharge on the crystalline structure of copolymers has been undertaken. The exposure to a quantum component of the discharge did not induce any changes in the phase composition of the irradiated samples. The heating of the samples led to a negligible change of their phase composition. It has been determined that the surface of polypropylene and propylene/hexene-1 copolymer films facing the cathode in the course of the direct current discharge treatment had an accumulated negative charge Q > 10 nC/cm² which persisted for a long time afterwards. It has been suggested that the electrical field of a negative discharge may be the main cause of the γ-into α-phase transition in propylene/hexene-1 copolymers under the plasma effect. To verify this assumption, a propylene/hexene-1 copolymer film was charged under electron beam with energy of 4 keV. The electron beam treatment of the film resulted to the negative charge value of 11 nC/cm². The electron beam irradiation has induced the phase transition which was quite similar to the transition observed as the result of plasma treatment. So, it may be concluded that the phase transition from crystal γ-modification to α-modification under the effect of direct current discharge which has been investigated for copolymers of propylene and hexene-1 is induced by electric field of the negative charge accumulated at the surface layers of the films of the copolymers.     

Reactions of polyolefins with strong lewis acids

Treatment of a cyclohexane solution of low density polyethylene and polystyrene with anhydrous aluminum chloride causes chemical reaction between the two polymers which results in the formation of a graft copolymer. The initial copolymer-forming reaction is very rapid, and prolonged contact of the polymers with aluminum chloride causes subsequent degradation in molecular weight. Treatment of separate solutions of polyethylene, isotactic polypropylene, and ethylene–propylene copolymers with aluminum chloride was studied as a function of time. The intrinsic viscosities of the polymers dropped from initial values of 2.4–6.5 to 0.55–0.85 in 5 min, followed by a slower decline over the next 2 hr. In the case of polypropylene, the low molecular weight fragments largely retained the isotactic structure, which demonstrates that stereochemical isomerization is not a major reaction.     

Selective removal of polyethylene or polypropylene from their blends based on difference in their adsorption behaviour

The adsorption of polyethylene and polypropylene on zeolites depends on the nature of zeolite, the solvent as well as the molar mass of the polymer sample. For example, linear polyethylene is strongly retained on zeolite SH-300 from decalin, while isotactic, syndiotactic or atactic polypropylene is fully eluted in this system. On the other hand, polypropylene is retained on zeolite CBV-780 from diphenylether, while linear polyethylene is eluted. These differences in the elution behaviour have been utilised for selective removal of either linear polyethylene or polypropylene from blends of both polymers. The desorption of the retained polymer is difficult, or at times impossible. However, the selected adsorption systems have complimentary character, i.e. either one or second component is eluted or fully retained. Thus these sorbent/solvent systems, identified herein, are the first isocratic chromatographic systems, which enable selectively to remove polyethylene or polypropylene from their mixture. Moreover, decalin/SH-300 enables the removal of both linear and branched polyethylene from mixtures with random ethylene/propylene copolymers (polyethylene fully retained, ethylene/propylene copolymers eluted).     

Surface forces in foam films from ABA block copolymer: a dynamic method study

The thinning of foam films from aqueous solutions of an ABA triblock copolymer of polyethylene oxide and polypropylene oxide (average molecular weight 14,000 g/mol) is studied experimentally. The dependence of the surface forces on film thickness is obtained by the dynamic method of Scheludko and Exerowa.The total surface force measured in foam films (radius 60–70 m) from 10^–5 M (0.014 wt%) polymer solution with 0.1 M NaCl is positive at thicknesses from about 800 down to 460 . The electrostatic repulsion is negligible while the contribution of van der Waals attraction is small (within 15%). Therefore a positive surface force component predominates. Most probably it arises from steric interactions between the hydrophilic polyethylene oxide tails of the polymer. The dynamic method appears to be a suitable technique for exploring the stabilization of foam films from ABA copolymers.     

含长丙烯序列无规乙丙共聚物的合成与表征

用δ-TiCl₃-Et₂AlCl催化剂,以庚烷作溶剂,在单体C₃含量>60mol%的情况下,乙丙常压共聚可得到含长丙烯序列无规乙丙共聚物(LP-EPR)。其特性粘数〔η〕在2—3dl/g之间。影响〔η〕的主要因素是〔Al〕/〔Ti〕比、聚合温度和时间。共聚物的组成主要依赖单体C₃含量。通过庚烷萃取、红外、扭摆、x-射线衍射及相差显微镜等方法证明,在共聚物的无规乙丙分子链中含有全同聚丙烯(PP)序列,序列含量直接影响共聚物的结晶度、强度和硬度。     

EPR-g-PS接枝共聚物的大分子单体共聚物合成及表征

将阴离子聚合所得末端带有烯丙基的窄分布聚苯乙烯大分子单体(PSallyl)与乙烯、丙烯在钒催化体系下进行共聚合,得到聚苯乙烯(PS)支链沿乙丙橡胶(EPR)主干无规分布的接枝共聚物EPR-g-PS。接枝效率为70％左右。大分子单体的分子量、加入量,催化剂浓度和聚合温度等对共聚反应及其产物结构有明显的影响。丁酮为选择沉淀剂可分离未反应的聚苯乙烯大分子单体。用紫外光谱、核磁共振、渗透压和凝胶渗透色谱法测定了纯制接枝共聚物的组成和分子量。结果表明所合成的EPR-g-PS的聚苯乙烯含量为5—45％;支链为分子量1.0—7.8×10~4的窄分布((?)=1.05—1.17)聚苯乙烯;平均支链数为1—4。     

乙丙共聚物及其共混物晶型探讨

用广角X-射线衍射(WAXD)和偏光显微镜(PLM)方法,研究了具有乙丙长序列乙丙共聚物及其共混物,发现通过熔融慢冷结晶样品,C_3含量在30mol％以上,衍射角2θ=20°处出现了属于γ-PP晶型的(140),(130)晶面衍射。含有乙丙长序列链结构的乙丙共聚物及共混物属(α+γ)混晶结构;含乙丙长序列的EPR以γ-相为主,嵌段物和共混物则以α-PP为主,形成γ-PP结构的必要条件是含有乙丙长序列链结构样品熔融慢冷结晶。     

Conducting films of poly(aniline‐co‐1‐amino‐ 2‐naphthol‐4‐sulfonic acid) blended with LDPE for its application as antistatic encapsulation material

The paper presents the electrostatic charge dissipative (ESD) properties of the conducting copolymers of aniline (AN) and 1‐amino‐2‐naphthol‐4‐sulfonic acid (ANSA) blended with low‐density polyethylene (LDPE). The copolymers of aniline and ANSA were synthesized under different reaction conditions. Blending of copolymers with LDPE was carried out in twin screw extruder by melt blending method by loading 0.5 and 1.0 wt% of the conducting copolymer in LDPE matrix. The mechanical properties of the blended films depend on the incorporation of copolymer in the LDPE matrix. The morphology of copolymer–LDPE blend was studied by scanning electron microscopy. The conductivity of the blown film of poly(AN‐co‐ANSA)/LDPE blend was found to be in the range of 10^?6–10^?11 S/cm, showing its potential use as antistatic bag for the encapsulation of electronic equipments. The static decay time of the film was found to be of the order of 0.1–1.9 sec on recording the decay time from 5000 to 500 V. Static charge measurements carried out on the films show that no charge is present on the surface. The level of interaction between the copolymers and the matrix polymer was determined by the FTIR spectra, blend morphology, electrical conductivity, and thermal analysis. The effect of the morphology on electrical and antistatic behavior of copolymers has also been investigated. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Melting Point and Composition Distribution of Polyolefins by Fractionation

The fractionation technique described in this paper was used to characterize the melting-point, monomer, and blocking distributions for polymers and copolymers. It is different from the molecular-weight fractionation technique in that the fractions are obtained by using a single solvent to extract the solid polymer below its melting point at stepwise-increasing temperatures. The reproducibility of this technique is excellent, and the technique is sufficient to distinguish pellet-to-pellet variation in a commercially available polypropylene. It was used to show the influence of preparation variables on the melting-point distributions of polyethylene and polypropylene and on the monomer and blocking distribution of copolymers, and to distinguish copolymers from blends.     

Recycling of Polyolefins: Part 2: Blends of Several Polymers

Abstract

The aim of the present paper is to study the feasibility of recycling polyolefins with some additives, such as copolymers in order to improve the mechanical properties and increase the useful life of the blends. From analysis of the results of blends of polypropylene(PP) with POD(Blend of recycled Polyolefins), it can be concluded that it is possible to recycle POD up to 20%, the addition of a copolymer to the 12% composition improving the interfacial adhesion. In the case of low density polyethylene(LDPE) mixtures with POD, the optimum improvement in properties is obtained with approximately 10% of POD. The addition of copolymers did not yield any improvement in the properties.     

New methodology for synthesizing polyolefinic graft block copolymers and their morphological features

This paper describes a new synthetic route for polyolefinic graft block copolymers by adopting coupling reaction between terminally hydroxylated polyolefins and maleic anhydride grafted polyolefins. Terminally hydroxylated polypropylene (PP-OH) was coupled with maleic anhydride modified polyethylene (PE-g-MAH) and such ethylene-propylene random copolymer (EPR-g-MAH) to give polyolefinic graft block copolymers (PE-g-PP and EPR-g-PP, respectively). The formation of PE-g-PP was confirmed by enhancement on molecular weight and it brought about distinctive decrease in size of dispersed domain in its phase separation morphology. Occurrence of coupling reaction to give EPR-g-PP was indicated by extreme decrease in its solubility to n-decane and it led to unique morphology demonstrating lamella microstructure that had never been reported for a comparable polyolefin composite.     

聚丙烯与聚酯-聚醚多嵌段共聚物共混的研究

聚丙烯和聚酯-聚醚多嵌段共聚物的熔融共混物是微多相分散体系,其力学性能和软链段的结构有关。DSC和偏光显微镜图分别表明共混物中聚丙烯结晶度以及球晶尺寸随聚酯-聚醚的混入量而变小。聚丙烯和少量聚酯-聚醚多嵌段共聚物共混,可改进聚丙烯的流变性,吸湿性和染色性。     

Synthesis of Propylene Diblock Copolymers via Metallocene and Borane Chemistry

An isotactic chain end unsaturated polypropylene was prepared by the homogeneous metallocene catalyst Et(Ind)₂ZrCl₂ with MAO. Herein, the chain end unsaturated polypropylene proceeded the hydroboration reaction to prepare borane‐containing polypropylene. The borane‐containing polypropylene could be transformed to hydroxyl‐terminated polypropylene, PPOH. And then the polypropylene‐nylon 6 diblock copolymer, PP‐b‐NY6, was synthesized from telechelic PPOH by converting this prepolymer with toluene diisocyanate and using the resulting materials as macroactivators for anionic caprolactam polymerization. Meanwhile, this investigation used borane‐containing polypropylene and oxygen to produce free radicals at the chain end on the polypropylene. Experimental results indicate that the free radical is an effective initiator for the polymerization of methyl methacrylate to produce diblock PP‐b‐PMMA. The block copolymers are characterized by IR, NMR, and DSC analyses. The diblock copolymer is a good compatibilizer for polymer blends.     

Synthesis,characterization and photoinduction of optical anisotropy in liquid crystalline diblock azo‐copolymers

Diblock copolymers with polymethyl methacrylate and side chain liquid crystalline (LC) azopolymethacrylate blocks were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The azobenzene content in these copolymers ranges from 52 to 7 wt %. For an azo content down to 20% they exhibit a LC behavior similar to that of the azo homopolymers. Thin films of these copolymers were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A lamellar nanostructure was observed for azo content down to 20 wt %, while no structure is observed for the copolymer with a 7% azo content. The optical anisotropy induced in these films by illumination with linearly polarized 488 nm light was studied and the results compared with those of the azo homopolymer and of a random copolymer with a similar composition. The formation of azo aggregates inside the azo blocks is strongly reduced in going from the homopolymer to the copolymers. Photoinduced azo orientation perpendicular to the 488 nm light polarization was found in all the polymers. The orientational order parameter is very similar in the homopolymer and in the block copolymers with an azo content down to 20 wt %, while it is much lower in the random copolymer and in the 7 wt %. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 1899–1910, 2007     

含氟丙烯酸酯共聚物制备超疏水表面及其形成机理的研究

以丙烯酸全氟烷基乙基酯和甲基丙烯酸甲酯为共聚单体, 分别以用微乳液聚合法和溶液聚合法制备的无规共聚物和用可逆加成-断裂链转移制备的嵌段共聚物作为成膜共聚物, 并以1,1,2-三氟三氯乙烷作为溶剂, 采用溶剂挥发成膜法可以直接制备出超疏水膜, 聚合物膜对水的接触角可达160°. 改变聚合物结构和成膜条件, 探讨了该类超疏水膜的形成机理和影响因素. 发现膜的表面形貌和疏水性与共聚物的组成、结构、分子量以及成膜条件密切相关, 随着共聚物中氟含量的增大, 膜的表面形貌都趋于平滑; 而且, 无规共聚物比嵌段共聚物更易形成粗糙度好的膜; 同时, 较大的聚合物分子量和适宜的高的成膜温度都对形成粗糙结构有利.