PE Segments Research Articles

Amphiphilic olefin block copolymers synthesized by successive coordinative chain transfer and ring-opening polymerizations

Introducing polarity is a necessity for widening the application scope of polyolefins specifically for developing biocompatible products. To this end, we exploit a two-step polymerization process to synthesize poly(ethylene‑b‑caprolactone) PE‑PCL block copolymers, which contain both polar and non-polar segments. First ethylene is polymerized by a generic metallocene catalyst in the presence of ZnEt2 as the chain transfer agent according to the coordinative chain transfer polymerization (CCTP) technique. Terminal zinc atoms are subsequently replaced by hydroxyl groups (PE‑OH) by exposing dormant polymer chains to oxygen. Afterward, ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of ε‑caprolactone is initiated by PE‑OH to form PE‑PCL block copolymers. Successful formation of both blocks is verified by FTIR and NMR spectroscopy. The presence of PCL blocks greatly lowers the crystallinity of ethylene sequences according to XRD and DSC results. Moreover, a second type of PE crystals with more chain folds and lower lamella thickness is found in block copolymers, which is absent in the equivalent physical blend. The diverse crystal structure of block copolymers suggest that phase separation exists between PE and PCL segments. The SEM image of the equivalent physical blend confirms the tendency of PCL and PE chains to phase separate, and infers a compatibilization in the presence of PE‑PCL block copolymers. This phase separation is detected by rheological measurements, as well, where block copolymers show deviations from Maxwell behavior in the terminal relaxation zone at low frequencies. Rheology results also show that the order-disorder transition temperature (TODT) of these block copolymers is higher than 180 °C. These results provide a clear picture from the morphology and utility of such block copolymers specifically for compatibilizing blends of polar polymers and non-polar polyolefins, which significantly broaden the utility of polyolefins.

2D Co-UMOFNs filled PEBA composite membranes for pervaporation of phenol solution

Two-dimensional Co ultrathin metal–organic framework nanosheets (Co-UMOFNs) were synthesized and blended into poly (ether block amide) (PEBA) to prepare composite mixed matrix membranes on PVDF supports for the pervaporation of phenol aqueous solution. The membranes were characterized by XRD, ATR-IR, TGA, CA and SEM measurements. Effects of the Co-UMOFNs loading, feed temperature and feed concentration on phenol separation performance were investigated. The results showed that Co-UMOFNs have a two-dimensional layered morphology and have good compatibility with the PEBA. A “brick and mortar” architecture morphology was achieved after incorporating Co-UMOFNs into the PEBA membrane. The amorphous PE segments in the PEBA were turned into a crystalline structure, restricting the motion of PE segments. The filling of Co-UMOFNs slightly improved the thermal stability and hydrophobicity as well. With the increase of the Co-UMOFNs loading from 0% to 40%, the phenol separation factor increased from 27 to 45, and the total flux decreased from 1.2 kg m-2h-1 to 0.42 kg m-2h-1, when separation of 1000 ppm phenol solution at 70 °C. The interlayer galleries induced by the Co-UMOFNs stacking increased the tortuosity, and the crystalline structure of the Co-UMOFNs-PEBA improved the energy barriers of water penetration. Therefore the water flux was inhibited and the phenol separation factor increased. Depression of water permeation can be another protocol to prepare high-performance organophilic pervaporation membranes.

Self-assembly of linear-hyperbranched hybrid block polymers: crystallization-driven or solvent-driven?

Self-assembly of polyethylene-block-hyperbranched polyglycidol diblock polymers (PE1-b-hbPG7-OH8 and PE1-b-hbPG26-OH27) in selective or slightly selective or nonselective solvents of PE segments were investigated by microscopy (TEM, SEM and AFM). Study showed that both polymers can be assembled into a diamond-shaped lamellae driving by PE crystallization in toluene solvent, composed of PE single-crystal layer sandwiched between two hbPG layers tethered on the top and bottom basal surfaces. However, by adding the toluene solution of polymers to THF and MeOH, the morphology of the aggregate changed from lamellae to rod or sphere, indicating the change of driving force from the crystallization of PE block to the interaction parameter (χ) between hbPG block and solvent. In addition, the degree of polymerization (DP) of hbPG segments affected the thickness of the lamellae (in toluene) and the shape and size of the rodlike or spherical aggregate (in mixed solvent), determined by the relative volume fractions of PE and hbPG chains in selective solvents.

Salt Partitioning in Complex Coacervation of Symmetric Polyelectrolytes

We perform a general thermodynamic analysis for the salt partitioning behavior in the coexisting phases for symmetric mixtures of polycation and polyanion solutions. We find that salt partitioning is determined by the competition between two factors involving the ratio of the polyelectrolyte concentration in the coacervate phase to that in the supernatant phase and the difference in the exchange excess chemical potential Δμex—the excess chemical potential difference between PE segments and small ions—between the coexisting phases. The enrichment of salt ions in the coacervate phase predicted by the Voorn–Overbeek theory is shown to arise from its neglect of chain connectivity in the excess free energy which results in Δμex = 0 under all conditions. We argue that chain connectivity in general leads to a finite value of Δμex, which decreases with increasing PE concentration. Explicit calculations using theories that include the chain connectivity correlations—a simple liquid-state theory and a renormalized Gaussian fluctuation theory—show nonmonotonic behavior of the salt-partitioning coefficient (the ratio of salt ion concentration in the coacervate phase to that in the supernatant phase): it is larger than 1 at very low salt concentrations, reaches a minimum at some intermediate salt concentration, and approaches 1 at the critical point. This behavior is consistent with recent computer simulation and experimental results.

Pathway mediated microstructures and phase morphologies of asymmetric double crystalline co-oligomers

Various microstructures and phase morphologies of an amphiphilic poly(ethylene oxide)-block-polyethylene (PEO-b-PE) co-oligomer, controlled by topological restriction of PE segments on the tethered PEO chains, were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and synchrotron radiation wide-angle/small-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS/SAXS) in drop-cast films. The crystallization processes were mediated by two pathways, a one-step crystallization process (I) and a sequential crystallization process (II). Results show that the thermal procedures have great influence on the microstructures and phase morphologies of PEO-b-PE co-oligomer, e.g., negative spherulites with radial stripes were detected in the one-step crystallization process (I), while crystalline texture, which contains a large number of crystals with reduced sizes, formed in the sequential crystallization process (II). Based on our experimental data, the topological restriction effect encountered by PEO chains depends on the hard confinement of PE crystals and the soft confinement of amorphous PE in the two crystallization procedures. The formation mechanisms of the long-range order structures within the co-oligomer were elucidated through morphology models. These nano-patterned structures make the double crystalline block copolymers outstanding candidates for surface modification, micromolding, and optoelectronic devices in nanotechnological and biomedical applications.

Structure, dynamics and interactions of complex sol–gel hybrid materials through SSNMR and DSC: Part I, binary systems based on PE-PEG block copolymer, PHS and silica

This paper is the first part of a combined DSC and solid-state NMR study aimed at understanding the dynamic, morphological and interaction properties of three-component organic–inorganic hybrid coatings exhibiting interesting barrier properties against oxygen diffusion, obtained by sol–gel processes starting from triethoxysilane terminated polyethylene-b-poly(ethylene glycol) copolymer (PE-PEGSi), poly(4-hydroxystyrene) (PHS), and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). This paper reports the results of the study of the corresponding simpler two-component hybrids, which, beside the interest of these systems by themselves, was necessary for unravelling the characterization of the complex three-component systems. The phase, dynamic and interaction properties of binary systems PE-PEG/SiO2, PHS/SiO2, and PE-PEG/PHS have been here investigated and compared with those of the single components. Evidences of the occurrence of hydrogen bonds between PHS and both silica and PEG have been obtained. The interaction with silica and PHS seems to strongly inhibit the crystallization of PEG segments but to not prevent PE from segregating into crystalline domains. Moreover a noticeable mobility of amorphous PEG segments and the presence of mobile isolated or loosely packed PE segments in all-trans conformations have been highlighted in PE-PEG/SiO2 hybrids. The structural and phase behaviour of PHS results to be strongly affected by the presence of either silica or PEG. In PHS/SiO2 hybrids a two-state model with PHS chains either tightly- or loosely bound to silica domains has been proposed, while in PE-PEG/PHS blends the presence of a PEG-PHS miscible amorphous phase has been observed.

Combined XPS and contact angle studies of ethylene vinyl acetate and polyvinyl acetate blends

In this study, we prepared thin films by blending ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA) containing 12–33 (wt.%) vinyl acetate (VA) with polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) and high density polyethylene homopolymers. Large area micropatterns having controlled protrusion sizes were obtained by phase-separation especially for the PVAc/EVA-33 blends using dip coating. These surfaces were characterized by XPS and contact angle measurements. A reasonably linear relation was found between the VA content on the surface (wt.%) obtained from XPS analysis and the VA content in bulk especially for PVAc/EVA-33 blend surfaces. PE segments were more enriched on the surface than that of the bulk for pure EVA copolymer surfaces similar to previous reports and VA enrichment was found on the EVA/HDPE blend surfaces due to high molecular weight of HDPE. Water θ e decreased with the increase in the VA content on the blend surface due to the polarity of VA. A good agreement was obtained between γ s − and atomic oxygen surface concentration with the increase of VA content. The applicability of Cassie–Baxter equation was tested and found that it gave consistent results with the experimental water contact angles for the case where VA content was lower than 55 wt.% in the bulk composition.

Synthesis and self-assembly of miktoarm star copolymers of (polyethylene)2−(polystyrene)2

We report on the synthesis and self-assembly of a novel well-defined miktoarm star copolymer of (polyethylene)2−(polystyrene)2, (PE)2−(PS)2, with two linear crystalline PE segments and two PS segments as the building blocks based on chain shuttling ethylene polymerization (CSEP), click reaction and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Initially, alkynyl-terminated PE (PE–) was synthesized via the esterification of pentynoic acid with hydroxyl-terminated PE (PE−OH), which was prepared using CSEP with 2,6-bis[1-(2,6-dimethylphenyl) imino ethyl] pyridine iron (II) dichloride/methylaluminoxane/diethyl zinc and subsequent in situ oxidation with oxygen. (PE)2−(OH)2 was then obtained by the click reaction of PE– with diazido and dihydroxyl containing coupling agent. The two hydroxyl groups in (PE)2−(OH)2 were then converted into bromisobutyrate by esterification. At last, the (PE)2−(PS)2 miktoarm star copolymers were synthesized by ATRP of styrene initiated from (PE)2−Br2 macroinitiator. All the intermediates and final products were characterized by 1H NMR and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The self-assembly behavior was studied by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The crystallization of the (PE)2−(PS)2 miktoarm star copolymers was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

Relaxation of shear-enhanced crystallization in impact-resistant polypropylene copolymer: Insight from morphological evolution upon thermal treatment

Relaxation of shear-enhanced crystallization in an impact-resistant polypropylene copolymer (IPC) upon thermal treatment was systematically investigated, from the sight of phase structure and resultant morphological evolution. Shearing was capable of accelerating the crystallization of IPC, while upon melt annealing, a spontaneous morphological evolution can be observed accompanied by a gradual relaxation of shear-enhanced crystallization. It was found the underlying structural motion during relaxation is in essence a phase separation process towards a multi-layered phase structure, in which crystallizable polyethylene segments are spatially entangled with ethylene-propylene random copolymer chains. The shear-enhanced crystallization originates from the destruction of this multi-layered phase structure which releases crystallizable PE segments to contact the matrix serving as nuclei for the crystallization of polypropylene. Upon annealing, reconstruction of the multi-layered structure can be achieved leading to the relaxation of shear-enhanced crystallization. A conceptual model describing this relationship between phase structure and crystallization behavior in IPC has been proposed.

Relationship between Morphological Change and Crystalline Phase Transitions of Polyethylene−Poly(ethylene oxide) Diblock Copolymers. 3. Dependence of Morphological Transition Phenomena on the PE/PEO Segmental Lengths and Its Possible Origins

By measurement of the small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scatterings and infrared and Raman spectra and thermal data, microphase separation phenomena have been investigated for a series of polyethylene-poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymer (PE-b-PEO) in both the heating and cooling processes and compared with the structural changes occurring inside the PE and PEO domains. The complicated morphological changes between lamella, perforated lamella, gyroid, cylinder, and sphere phases were detected for the copolymer with relatively short PE segments. The orthorhombic crystalline structure of PE was kept unchanged in the lamella-to-gyroid transition. When the PE orthorhombic phase transformed to the pseudohexagonal or rotator phase, the gyroid morphology changed to the cylinder. On the other hand, the diblock copolymer with relatively long PE segment was found to show only the lamellar morphology, in which the order-disorder structural transition between the orthorhombic and pseudohexagonal phases occurred in the PE crystal region. As a possibility, the large difference in morphological change between the copolymers with short and long PE segments has been ascribed to the difference in thermal mobility of PE segments, which is controlled by the conformation of chains and their packing mode, i.e., an extended chain or a folded chain. The extended chains may move thermally and actively along the interfacial boundary in addition to the librational motion around the chain axis, resulting in a variety of morphological changes, whereas the thermal motion of the folded chains may be suppressed because of the geometrical constraint and does not cause such a large-scale morphological change from the lamellar structure. This concept, a thermal activity and geometrical constraint, is considered to be quite important in the interpretation of complicated morphological changes observed for many crystalline-amorphous and crystalline-crystalline diblock copolymers when viewed from the molecular level.

Relationship between Morphological Change and Crystalline Phase Transitions of Polyethylene−Poly(ethylene Oxide) Diblock Copolymers, Revealed by the Temperature-dependent Synchrotron WAXD/SAXS and Infrared/Raman Spectral Measurements

The phase transition behaviors of low-molecular-weight polyethylene-poly(ethylene oxide) (PE-b-PEO) diblock copolymers with the monomeric units of PE/PEO = 17/40 and 39/86 have been successfully investigated through the temperature-dependent measurements of wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), infrared and Raman spectra, as well as thermal analysis. These diblock copolymers had been believed to show only order-to-disorder transition of lamellar morphology in a wide temperature region, but it has been found here for the first time that this copolymer clearly exhibits the three stages of transitions among lamella, gyroid, cylinder, and spherical phases in the heating and cooling processes. The WAXD and IR/Raman spectral measurements allowed us to relate these morphological changes to the microscopic changes in the aggregation states of PEO and PE segments. In the low-temperature region the PEO segments form the monoclinic crystal of (7/2) helical chain conformation and the PE segments of planar-zigzag form take the orthorhombic crystalline phase. These crystalline lamellae of PEO and PE segments are alternately stacked with the long period of 165 Angstroms. In a higher temperature region, where the PEO crystalline parts are on the way of melting but the PE parts are still in the orthorhombic phase, the gyroid morphology is detected in the SAXS data. By heating further, the gyroid morphology changes to the hexagonally packed cylindrical morphology, where the orthorhombic phase of PE segments is gradually disordered because of thermally activated molecular motion and finally transforms to the pseudohexagonal or rotator phase. Once the PE segments are perfectly melted, the higher-order structure changes from the cylinder to the spherical morphology. These morphological transitions might relate to the thermally activated motions of two short chain segments of the diblock copolymer, although the details of the transition mechanism are unclear at the present stage.

Melting behavior and isothermal crystallization kinetics of PP/mLLDPE blends

The melting/crystallization behavior and isothermal crystallization kinetics of polypropylene (PP)/metallocene-catalyzed linear low density polyethylene (mLLDPE) blends were studied with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results showed that PP and mLLDPE are partially miscible and interactions mainly exist between the mLLDPE chains and the PE segments in PP molecules. The isothermal crystallization kinetics of the blends was described with the Avrami equation. Values of the Avrami exponent indicated that crystallization nucleation of the blends is heterogeneous, the growth of spherulites is almost three-dimensional, and the crystallization mechanism of PP is not affected much by mLLDPE. The Avrami exponents of the blends are higher than that of pure PP, showing that the mLLDPE helps PP to form perfect spherulites. The crystallization rates of PP are decreased by mLLDPE because the crystallization temperature of PP was decreased by addition of mLLDPE and consequently the supercooling of the PP was correspondingly lower. The crystallization activation energy was estimated by the Friedman equation, and the result showed that the activation energy increased by a small degree by addition of mLLDPE, but changed little with increasing content of mLLDPE in the blends. The nucleation constant (Kg) was determined by the Hoffman–Lauritzen theory.

The influence of variant PE-b-PEO segments on physical properties of LLDPE graft copolymers

A method was adopted to fix a series of polymers of PE-b-PEO with different PEO/PE segments on the chains of LLDPE. Maleic anhydride (MA) reacting with hydroxyl group of PE-b-PEO (mPE-b-PEO) was used as the intermediate. The structures of intermediates and graft copolymers were approved by 1H NMR and FTIR. XPS analysis revealed a great amount of oxygen on the surface of grafted copolymers although the end group of PEO was fixed on the LLDPE chains through MA. Thermal properties of the graft copolymers as determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that PE segments in the grafted monomers could promote the heterogeneous nucleation of the polymer, increase Tc, and crystal growth rate. While the amorphous PEO segments which attached to the crystalline PE segments in LLDPE, impaired their ability to fit the crystal lattice, and depressed the crystallization of LLDPE backbones. In this study, it was also verified through the dynamic rheological data that increasing Mn of grafted monomers significantly increased the complex viscosity and enhanced the shear-thinning behavior. Long-branched chains formed by grafted monomers enhanced the complex moduli (G′ and G″) value and retarded relaxation rate. However, there were little influence on the rheological properties when increasing the amounts of PEO segments (or decreasing PE segments) of grafted monomers with similar molecular weight. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 506–515, 2008

Effect of molecular architecture on quiescent and shear‐induced crystallization of polyethylene

AbstractThe aim of this work is to investigate the effect of the molecular structure of polyethylene on the crystallization kinetics. In static conditions, the increase of the degree of branching leads to the decrease of the crystallization temperature, the melting temperature, and the crystallinity. Indeed, the crystal thickness is controlled by the length of PE segments between branching. The effect of preshear on crystallization kinetics was studied by following the dynamic modulus along the time after a treatment of constant shear rate. Particularly, the effect of the shear rate was investigated. The enhancement of crystallization kinetics appears directly linked to the relaxation time of the melt polymer. Expressed by the Weissenberg number, a “master curve” is obtained independent of the amount and length of branching, leading to the conclusion that the nucleation due to shear is conditioned by the molecular architecture mainly via its effect on the relaxation time. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1597–1607, 2006

Crystallization in ABC Triblock Copolymers with Two Different Crystalline End Blocks: Influence of Confinement on Self‐Nucleation Behavior

AbstractThe influence of different confinements active during crystallization within polybutadiene‐block‐polyisoprene‐block‐poly(ethylene oxide) (PB‐b‐PI‐b‐PEO) and the corresponding hydrogenated polyethylene‐block‐poly(ethylene‐alt‐propylene)‐block‐poly(ethylene oxide) (PE‐b‐PEP‐b‐PEO) triblock copolymers on the self‐nucleation behavior of the crystallizable PEO and PE blocks is investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In triblock copolymers with PEO contents ≤ 20 wt.‐% crystallization of PEO is confined within small isolated microdomains (spheres or cylinders), and PEO crystallization takes place exclusively at high supercoolings. Self‐nucleation experiments reveal an anomalous behavior in comparison to the classical self‐nucleation behavior found in semicrystalline homopolymers. In these systems, domain II (exclusive self‐nucleation domain) vanishes, and self‐nucleation can only take place at lower temperatures in domain IIISA, when annealing is already active. The self‐nucleation behavior of the PE blocks is significantly different compared with that of the PEO blocks. Regardless of the low PE content (10–25 wt.‐%) in the investigated PE‐b‐PEP‐b‐PEO triblock copolymers a classical self‐nucleation behavior is observed, i.e., all three self‐nucleation domains, usually present in crystallizable homopolymers, can be located. This is a direct result of the small segmental interaction parameter of the PEP and PE segments in the melt. As a consequence, crystallization of PE occurs without confinement from a homogeneous mixture of PE and PEP segments. Self‐nucleation regimes of a block copolymer showing confined crystallization by means of DSC.magnified imageSelf‐nucleation regimes of a block copolymer showing confined crystallization by means of DSC.

Synthesis and Characterization of ABC Triblock Copolymers with Two Different Crystalline End Blocks: Influence of Confinement on Crystallization Behavior and Morphology

The preparation of polyethylene-block-poly(ethylene-alt-propylene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PE-b-PEP-b-PEO) triblock copolymers by homogeneous catalytic hydrogenation of the precursor poly(1,4-butadiene)-block-poly(1,4-isoprene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PB-b-PI-b-PEO) triblock copolymers, which were synthesized by sequential anionic polymerization, is described. Thermal analysis using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) reveals differences in the crystallization behavior of the PEO and PE blocks arising from different morphological confinements active during crystallization. If the PEO block is confined into isolated spherical or cylindrical microdomains, crystallization can only be induced by high supercoolings resulting from the vast number of microdomains (spheres or cylinders) compared to the number of available heterogeneities. In contrast, crystallization of PE proceeds via heterogeneous nucleation regardless of the composition, which can be attributed to the miscibility of PEP and PE segments in the melt. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning force microscopy (SFM) have been used to investigate the influence of different confinements, active in PE-b-PEP-b-PEO triblock copolymers, on the formed morphology. In addition, temperature-dependent imaging by hot-stage SFM measurements following the melting of PEO blocks and annealing of PE crystallites within a PE-b-PEP-b-PEO triblock copolymer will be presented.

Modification of EVOH copolymers withε-caprolactone: synthesis and compatibilization effects in PE/PVC blends

Polyethylene-polycaprolactone graft copolymers with different chemical structures (i.e. different number and length of PCL grafts and molecular weight of PE backbone) were synthesized from various EVOH copolymers and ϵ-caprolactone, using Aluminum isopropoxide as catalyst, and were tested for their compatibilizing capability in PE/PVC blends. PE and PCL segments in the graft copolymers were found completely immiscible, while PCL segments of the graft copolymers were found completely miscible with PVC. When graft copolymers were added to PE/PVC blends they proved to be good agents for the dispersion of PVC phase in the PE matrix. SEM showed also improved adhesion between the dispersed PVC phase and PE matrix. Moderate improvements in mechanical properties were also observed in preliminary tensile tests.

Structure and properties of polypropylene/poly(ethylene-co-propylene) in-situ blends synthesized by spherical Ziegler–Natta catalyst

A polypropylene/poly(ethylene-co-propylene) (iPP/EPR) in-situ blend synthesized by spherical Ziegler–Natta catalyst was fractionated by temperature-gradient extraction fractionation. The fractions were characterized using FTIR, 13C NMR, DSC and WAXD. The in-situ blend was found to contain mainly three portions: an ethylene–propylene random copolymer, a series of segmented copolymer with PE and PP segments of different length, and propylene homopolymer. The impact strength of in-situ blends of different structural heterogeneity was measured, and the results show that increasing the amount of segmented copolymer has a positive effect on the impact strength. The segmented copolymer portion alone is found to increase the impact strength at room temperature greatly, while the low temperature impact strength can be markedly enhanced only when random copolymer coexists with the segmented copolymer.

Studies on blends of LLDPE and ethylene-methacrylic acid random copolymer

Blends of linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) and poly(ethylene-co-methacrylic acid) (EMA) random copolymer were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), and excimer fluorescence. In binary blends, crystallization of EMA was studied, and no modification of crystal structure was detected. In excimer fluorescence measurements, emission intensities of blends of EMA and naphthalene-labeled LLDPE were measured. The ratio of the excimer emission intensity (I-D) to the emission intensity of the isolated monomer (I-M) decreases upon addition of EMA, indicating that PE segments of EMA interpenetrate into the amorphous phase of LLDPE. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd,. All rights reserved.

Crystallization behavior and morphology of PE-g-LCP copolymers

This study presents DSC and optical microscopy investigations on copolymers of semiflexible liquid crystalline polymer SBH 112 grafted to functionalized low molecular mass polyethylene (PEox) obtained by melt polycondensation or reactive blending procedures. The crystallization behavior of the PE-g-SBH copolymers has been studied under non-isothermal measurement conditions carried out at different cooling rates. The crystallization temperature (Tcr) of the PE component of the copolymers decreases steadily upon increasing the concentration of the SBH grafts. It was found that the copolymers prepared by reactive blending crystallize at slightly higher Tcr than those prepared by polycondensation and with a higher rate, confirmed by the determination of the crystallization rate coefficients (CRC). The results have been interpreted by the fact that the PE crystallizable segments and SBH grafts of the copolymers obtained by reactive blending are longer than those of the copolymers prepared by polycondensation. The overall nonisothermal crystallization kinetics has been studied by the Harnisch and Muschik equation. The results show that the mechanism of the crystallization of the PE phase changes only when the SBH content overruns ca.50%, due to the decrease of both nucleation and crystal growth rates. The morphology of the copolymers crystallized nonisothermally from melt has been examined by polarization microscopy. Fairly homogeneous morphology with tiny PE spherulites is observed for PE-g-SBH copolymers prepared by polycondensation with SBH as the minor phase. No sign of the dispersed LCP domains can be recognized. On the contrary, the morphology of the copolymers prepared by reactive blending is distinctly biphasic. The allegedly longer PE segments crystallize into tiny spherulites too, but the LC domains formed by the long SBH branches present in this type of copolymers appear clearly in the micrographs at room temperature. It is concluded that the copolymers prepared by reactive blending would be more effective as compatibilizers for PE/SBH blends than those prepared by polycondensation.