Crystallization of ethylene–octene copolymers at high cooling rates

Abstract

The crystallization behavior of a series of ethylene–octene copolymers synthesized using metallocene catalysts was studied using the Ding–Spruiell method of rapid cooling. In conventional crystallization experiments it was found, as expected, that the spherulite growth rates varied with octene content and molecular weight. When studied at rapid cooling rates the polymers generate their own pseudo-isothermal crystallization temperatures, in agreement with Ding–Spruiell’s studies on other systems, however, at the lowest temperatures of crystallization, the spherulite growth rates of all of the copolymers studied merge and are virtually indistinguishable. The results indicate that there is a major change of crystallization mechanism under these conditions, of considerable relevance to polymer processing operations.