Version 1
: Received: 21 December 2020 / Approved: 22 December 2020 / Online: 22 December 2020 (12:43:10 CET)
Version 2
: Received: 21 January 2021 / Approved: 22 January 2021 / Online: 22 January 2021 (13:06:37 CET)
Chen, C.; Shekh, M.I.; Cui, S.; Stadler, F.J. Rheological Behavior of Blends of Metallocene Catalyzed Long-Chain Branched Polyethylenes. Part I: Shear Rheological and Thermorheological Behavior. Polymers2021, 13, 328.
Chen, C.; Shekh, M.I.; Cui, S.; Stadler, F.J. Rheological Behavior of Blends of Metallocene Catalyzed Long-Chain Branched Polyethylenes. Part I: Shear Rheological and Thermorheological Behavior. Polymers 2021, 13, 328.
Chen, C.; Shekh, M.I.; Cui, S.; Stadler, F.J. Rheological Behavior of Blends of Metallocene Catalyzed Long-Chain Branched Polyethylenes. Part I: Shear Rheological and Thermorheological Behavior. Polymers2021, 13, 328.
Chen, C.; Shekh, M.I.; Cui, S.; Stadler, F.J. Rheological Behavior of Blends of Metallocene Catalyzed Long-Chain Branched Polyethylenes. Part I: Shear Rheological and Thermorheological Behavior. Polymers 2021, 13, 328.
Abstract
Long-chain branched metallocene-catalyzed high-density polyethylenes (LCB-mHDPE) were solution blended to obtain blends with varying degrees of branching. A high molecular LCB-mHDPE was mixed with low molecular LCB-mHDPE are varying concentrations, whose rheological behavior is similar but whose molar mass and molar mass distribution is significantly different. Those blends were characterized rheologically to study the effects of concentration, molar mass distribution, and long-chain branching level of the low molecular LCB-mHDPE. Owing to the ultra-long relaxation times of the high molecular LCB-mHDPE, the blends started behaving clearly more long-chain branched than the base materials. The thermorheological complexity showed an apparent increase in the activation energies Ea determined from G’, G”, and especially δ. Ea(δ), which for LCB-mHDPE is a peak function, turned out to produce even more pronounced peaks than observed for regular LCB-mPE and also LCB-mPE with broader molar mass distribution. Thus, it is possible to estimate the molar mass distribution from the details of the thermorheological complexity.
Keywords
polyethylene; blend; long-chain branch; thermorheological complexity; activation energy spectrum
Subject
Chemistry and Materials Science, Biomaterials
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
