Ethylene octene copolymer

LLDPE materials are now available in a range of densities from around 0.900 g/cm for VLDPE materials to 0.935 g/cm for ethylene-octene copolymers. The bulk of materials are of density approx. 0.920 g/cm using butene in particular as the comonomer. 

Godail and Packham [77,78] have applied these ideas to the adhesion of ethylene-octene copolymers laminated to polypropylene. Variations in adhesion energy found with different laminating temperatures were interpreted in terms of... 

Godail, L. and Packham, D.E., Adhesion of ethylene-octene copolymers to polypropylene interfacial structure and mechanical properties. J. Adhes. Sci. Technol., 15, 1285-1304 (2001). 

ENGAGE is an ethylene-octene copolymer. Ray and Bhowmick [70] have prepared nanocomposites based on this copolymer. In this study, the nanoclay was modified in situ by polymerization of acrylate monomer inside the gallery gap of nanoclay. ENGAGE was then intercalated inside the increased gallery gap of the modified nanoclay. The nanocomposites prepared by this method have improved mechanical properties compared to that of the conventional counterparts. Preparation and properties of organically modified nanoclay and its nanocomposites with ethylene-octene copolymer were reported by Maiti et al. [71]. Excellent improvement in mechanical properties and storage modulus was noticed by the workers. The results were explained with the help of morphology, dispersion of the nanofiller, and its interaction with the mbber. 

Clay hllers were surface modihed with TMPTA or triethoxyvinyl silane (TEVS) followed by EB irradiation by Ray and Bhowmick [394]. Both the untreated and treated fillers were incorporated in an ethylene-octene copolymer. Mechanical, dynamic mechanical, and rheological properties of the EB-cured unfilled and filled composites were studied and a significant improvement in tensile strength, elongation at break, modulus, and tear strength was observed in the case of surface-treated clay-filled vulcanizates. Dynamic mechanical studies conducted on these systems support the above findings. 

Figure 19 (a) Peak melting temperature as a function of the branch content in ethylene-octene copolymers (labelled -O, and symbol —B (symbol, ) and -P (symbol, A) are for ethylene-butene and ethylene-propylene copolymers, respectively) and obtained from homogeneous metallocene catalysts show a linear profile, (b) Ziegler-Natta ethylene-octene copolymers do not show a linear relationship between peak melting point and branch content [125]. Reproduced from Kim and Phillips [125]. Reprinted with permission of John Wiley Sons, Inc. 

The previous sections in this chapter have tried to stress upon the significance of distribution of sequence lengths in polyethylene-based copolymers. The sequence length of interest in a system of ethylene-octene copolymers would be the number of methylene units before a hexyl branch point. As was discussed, this parameter has a greater impact on the crystallization behavior of these polymers than any other structural feature like branch content, or the comonomer fraction. The importance of sequence length distributions is not just limited to crystallization behavior, but also determines the conformational,... 

Experiments were conducted with a dual catalyst chain shuttling system in a continuous solution polymerization reactor. A series of ethylene-octene copolymers of similar melt index were produced with a composition of ca. 30% (by weight) hard and 70% soft blocks. The level of DEZ was systematically varied to study the effects of CSA ratio on polymer microstructure. 

Melting point alone cannot uniquely identify an OBC. For example, blends of high and low density polyolefins also exhibit an elevated melting point at equivalent density. Sample 3 in Fig. 17 (small circle) is a 70 30 physical blend of 0.86 and 0.94 g cm-3 ethylene-octene copolymers, and the melting point is similar to the OBCs. Physical blends of polymers of such disparate densities are not phase-continuous, however, and segregate into domains of the high and low density polymers. Figure 18 reveals differences in appearance of pressed plaques of the polymer samples... 

Fig. 18 Several samples of ethylene-octene copolymers having similar comonomer content, crystallinity, and melt index. Sample 3 is a physical blend of high and low density copolymers. Samples 4-6 are OBCs prepared with several different levels of chain shuttling agent. Reproduced by permission from [10]...

Fig. 19 Polarized optical micrographs of several polymers. From top left to lower right, a random ethylene-octene copolymer high density polyethylene samples 3-6...

The effect of blending LDPE with EVA or a styrene-isoprene block copolymer was investigated (178). The properties (thermal expansion coefficient. Young s modulus, thermal conductivity) of the foamed blends usually lie between the limits of the foamed constituents, although the relationship between property and blend content is not always linear. The reasons must he in the microstructure most polymer pairs are immiscible, but some such as PS/polyphenylene oxide (PPO) are miscible. Eor the immiscible blends, the majority phase tends to be continuous, but the form of the minor phase can vary. Blends of EVA and metallocene catalysed ethylene-octene copolymer have different morphologies depending on the EVA content (5). With 25% EVA, the EVA phase appears as fine spherical inclusions in the LDPE matrix. The results of these experiments on polymer films will apply to foams made from the same polymers. 

Polymer Engineering and Science 42, No.6, June 2002, p. 1274-85 DEFORMATION AND ENERGY ABSORPTION CHARACTERISTICS OF MICROCELLULAR ETHYLENE-OCTENE COPOLYMER VULCANIZATES Nayak N C Tripathy D K Indian Institute of Technology... 

An investigation is reported of the dynamic mechanical response of aluminium silicate filled closed cell microcellular ethylene-octene copolymer (Engage) vulcanisates. The effect of blowing agent, frequency and temperature on dynamic mechanical properties is studied, and the strain-dependent dynamic mechanical properties of microcellular Engage are also investigated. 25 refs. INDIA... 

Figure 10.15 The decay of the transverse magnetisation (points) for ethylene-octene copolymer at different temperatures [136]. The decay was measured using the solid-echo pulse sequence. The solid lines represent the result of a least-squares adjustment of the decay using a linear combination of Weibull and exponential functions. The dotted lines represent the relaxation component with a long decay time. In the experiments the sample was heated from room temperature to 343 K (70 °C)...

In a similar manner, the ethylene-octene copolymer crystallized directly via the orthorhombic phase without the intervention of the anticipated hexagonal phase as would be anticipated in linear polyethylenes at these high pressures and temperatures (at approximately 3.8 kbar and around 200 °C). At 100 °C, see Fig. 15, the d values for (110) and (200) orthorhombic reflections are 4.08 A and 3.71 A. When the sample is cooled below 100 °C, a new reflection adjacent to the (110) orthorhombic peak appears at 80 °C. The position of the new reflection is found to be 4.19 A and so corresponds to a new phase. No change in the intensity of the existing (110) and (200) reflections is observed, however the intensity of the amorphous halo decreases, which suggests that the appearance of the new reflection (d = 4.19 A) is solely due to the crystallization of a noncrystalline component. On cooling further as the new reflection intensifies, the (110) and (200) orthorhombic reflections shift gradually. However, at 50 °C, the (100) monoclinic reflection appears with a concomitant decrease in the intensity of the (110) orthorhombic reflec-... 

The implications of adjacent re-entry is realised in the drawability of the solution crystallized film of UHMWPE and the strain hardening behaviour of branched ethylene-octene copolymers, for example. 

The new single-site metallocene technology can be employed to yield new polyolefin materials (polyolefin plastomers (POP) and polyolefin elastomers (POE)) as noted by Schwank in the above noted reference. POP and POE materials are based on ethylene-octene copolymers and should show promise in various future blend combinations. 

The third trend is the growing interest in functionalization of polyolefin blends in their melt by means of reactive extrusion. Particular attention has been paid to blended systems PP/PE, PP/EPR, PE/ethylene-octene copolymer (EOC), PP/EOC, PE/PS, and PP/PS functionalized in melt by reactive extrusion. The major field for application of functionalized polyolefin blends is compatibilization of blends of condensation polymers, where they can be used in place of homopolyolefins. 

Morphological Phase Diagrams of Blends of Polypropylene Isomers with Poly(Ethylene-Octene) Copolymer... 

In the present study, syndiotactic polypropylene was supplied by FINA Chemical and Oil Company, having the reported weight-average and number-average molecular weights of sPP of 174,000 and 74,700 gmol , respectively, with a poly-dispersity (Mw/Mn) of 2.3 and 92.6% content of syndiotacticity. Poly(ethylene-octene) copolymer was provided by the Dow Chemical Company (Mw = 41,800 g mol , Mw/Mn = 2.26, and octene content = 10% by weight). 

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