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.

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.