Abstract
For a long time ethylene-propylene rubber (EPR) copolymers with high comonomer contents were believed to be amorphous materials with a random copolymer composition. This is not completely correct as has been shown by temperature rising elution fractionation (TREF) combined with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), crystallization analysis fractionation (CRYSTAF), and high temperature–high-performance liquid chromatography (HT-HPLC). When using only conventional crystallization-based fractionation methods, the comprehensive compositional analysis of EPR copolymers was impossible due to the fact that large fractions of these copolymers do not crystallize under CRYSTAF conditions. In the present work, HT-HPLC was used for the separation of the EPR copolymers according to their ethylene and propylene distributions along the polymer chains. These investigations showed the existence of long ethylene sequences in the bulk samples which was further confirmed by DSC. The results on the bulk samples prompted us to conduct preparative fractionations of EPR copolymers having varying ethylene contents using TREF. Surprisingly, significant amounts of crystallizing materials were obtained that were analyzed using a multistep protocol. CRYSTAF and DSC analyses of the TREF fractions revealed the presence of components with large crystallizable sequences that had not been detected by the bulk samples analyses. HT-HPLC provided a comprehensive separation and characterization of both the amorphous and the crystalline TREF fractions. The TREF fractions eluting at higher temperatures showed the presence of ethylene-rich copolymers and PE homopolymer. In order to obtain additional structural information on the separated fractions, HT-HPLC was coupled to Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The FT-IR data confirmed that the TREF fractions were separated according to the ethylene contents of the eluted samples. Preparative TREF analysis together with a combination of various analytical methods proved to be useful tools in understanding the complex molecular composition of these rubber samples. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015, 53, 863–874
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
