Poly(n-decyl methacrylate), a statistical copolymer of ethylene and propylene, and a diblock copolymer of styrene and hydrogenated butadiene were studied as representatives of various kinds of viscosity-index (VI) improvers. Essomarcol 52 and AF 1 from Schindler served as base-oils, toluene and 1-phenyl dodecane were also studied. By means of viscosity measurements in the temperature interval from 37.8 to 98.9°C up to a concentration of typically 1 wt.-% polymer, the viscosity indices of the different systems and the corresponding intrinsic viscosities, Huggins coefficients, and activation energies of flow, E≠, were determined. The discussion of the obtained experimental material demonstrat…

Detection of the liquid ? liquid demixing by differential scanning calorimetry

From theoretical considerations it is concluded that the demixing temperatures of moderately concentrated polymer solutions should manifest themselves in a change of the slope of the corresponding DSC trace; the effects are expected to suffice for detection by means of the commercially available dual furnace instrument DSC-2C from Perkin-Elmer.

Solutions of poly (decyl methacrylate) in isooctane (2,2, 4-trimethylpentane) show lower critical solution temperatures (LCST) that lie well below the thermal degradation of the polymer. The corresponding exothermal theta-temperature (from the Shultz-Flory plot) amounts to 210°C. The increase in solvent quality by pressure turns out to be very pronounced (d Tc/dp ≈ +1 K/bar). With solutions of the polymer in motor oils, high temperature demixing is unlikely to occur below their boiling point. The theoretical evaluation of published experimental data for 11 different systems exhibiting LCSTs demonstrates the following: Under the equilibrium vapour pressure of the solution high temperature de…

Kristallisation und schmelzverhalten von fraktionen verzweigten polyethylens, 1. Darstellung und charakterisierung der fraktionen

A branched polyethylene with broad molecular weight distribution was separated into a series of fractions by fractional precipitation from dilute solution. The fractions were characterized by viscometric and density measurements, IR-spectroscopy and calorimetry. The methyl group content and the density turned out as largely constant. Molecular weight effects show up in the melting behaviour. The main range of melting and the end of the melting curve shift to lower temperatures with decreasing molecular weight. Compared to the overall extension of the melting range these shifts are small. One has to conclude that polydispersity gives only a minor contribution to the broadening of the melting…