Molecular weight distribution temperature dependency

This kind of processing is obviously only suitable for reactions which are very rapid compared with the injection time. In addition, it is also necessary that the resulting mechanical properties are acceptable. Up to now, polyurethanes seem to be the most successful and this depends on the molecular weight and molecular weight distribution, both dependent on temperature and efficiency of mixing. 

In addition to elastic turbulence (characterised by helical deformation) another phenomenon known as sharkskin may be observed. This consists of a number of ridges transverse to the extrusion direction which are often just barely discernible to the naked eye. These often appear at lower shear rates than the critical shear rate for elastic turbulence and seem more related to the linear extrudate output rate, suggesting that the phenomenon may be due to some form of slip-stick at the die exit. It appears to be temperature dependent (in a complex manner) and is worse with polymers of narrow molecular weight distribution. 

Resin viscosity is an important property to consider in handling the resins. It depends on the molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, chemical constitution of the resin and presence of any modifiers or diluents. Since even the diglycidyl ethers are highly viscous materials with viscosities of about 40-100 poise at room temperature it will be appreciated that the handling of such viscous resins can present serious problems. 

Models for emulsion polymerization reactors vary greatly in their complexity. The level of sophistication needed depends upon the intended use of the model. One could distinguish between two levels of complexity. The first type of model simply involves reactor material and energy balances, and is used to predict the temperature, pressure and monomer concentrations in the reactor. Second level models cannot only predict the above quantities but also polymer properties such as particle size, molecular weight distribution (MWD) and branching frequency. In latex reactor systems, the level one balances are strongly coupled with the particle population balances, thereby making approximate level one models of limited value (1). 

From this information the absolute molecular weight distribution and the intrinsic viscosity-molecular weight plot can be constructed. From this plot the solvent and temperature dependent Mark-Houwink coefficients for linear polymers and information for polymer chain-branching of non-linear polymers can be obtained. 

The basic properties of mPE, such as the average molecular weight, molecular-weight distribution, or density depend mainly on the structure of the metallocene catalyst and its concentration in the polymerization reactor. They also depend strongly on the polymerization temperature and can be varied by incorporation of co-monomers. The influence of the pressure is only small. 

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