Free-Radical Polymerization of Low-Density Polyethylene LDPE

this chapter deals exclusively with polyolefins and polystyrene. While the basic chemistry of these latter two types of polymer seems simple, they are produced in thousands of grades varying greatly in molecular structure and flow behavior. 

6 Free-Radical Polymerization of Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) 

Because of the commercial importance of LDPE, there is substantial interest in divining its molecular structure. Because it contains both short and long-chain branches, the use of Carbon-13 NMR to study its structure is limited, since all branches longer than six carbons give the same response [ 55 ]. Axelson etal. [ 56 ], however, concluded from their NMR study that there is no unique LDPE molecule, since the concentration, type and distribution of subgroups vary widely . In other words, the variety of branching structures present, each with distributions 

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