COMPOSITIONAL HETEROGENEITY OF ETHYLENE-ACRYLATE COPOLYMERS EFFECT ON MELT RHEOLOGY

摘要

A new technique, Interaction Polymer Chromatography (IPC), was used to characterize ethylene/methyl acrylate (EMA) copolymers for chemical composition variation. This technique can be used to determine chemical composition heterogeneity (CCH) of copolymers. The CCH, molecular weight distribution (MWD) and long chain branching of tubular process EMA's are measured and compared with autoclave process EMA's. The tubular EMA has a much higher CCH and a narrower MMD compared with the autoclave EMA. It also has a lower degree of branching. It is found that the significant CCH of tubular EMA attributes to its unusual high melt elasticity. The discussion also highlights the correlation between CCH and some other polymer properties.