Rheological properties of olefin block copolymers

陶氏化学公司最近报道了一种新型聚烯烃——烯烃嵌段共聚物的开发，这是一种热塑性弹性体，在高温下仍能保持其弹性性能。这些独特的聚合物是用一种新的反应体系制成的，该反应体系涉及两种催化剂，一种催化剂产生均聚物，另一种催化剂产生共聚物。通过改变链梭剂的水平和共聚物的含量，可以制造出具有广泛性能的产品。所提议的工作的目标是对精心设计的一组样品进行完整的物理表征。这些信息对于优化制造过程以生产具有所需加工行为和产品特性的材料至关重要。陶氏化学公司在加拿大经营着主要的聚烯烃生产设施，其产品的价值将受到这项工作的影响。同时，申请人的研究小组将处于独特的地位，成为具有新颖分子结构的新型聚合物物理研究的先驱，博士生和博士后研究员将有机会使用麦吉尔大学提供的独特工具来研究一类重要的新型聚合物。

The Dow Chemical Company recently reported the development of a new class of polyolefins, olefin block copolymers, which are thermoplastic elastomers that maintain their elastic properties at elevated temperatures. These unique polymers are made using a novel reaction system that involves two catalysts, one of which makes homopolymer while the second makes copolymer. By varying the level of chain shuttling agent and comonomer content, products with a wide range of properties can be manufactured. The objective of the proposed work is to carry out a complete physical characterization of a carefully designed set of samples. This information is essential for the optimization of the manufacturing process to produce materials having desired processing behavior and product characteristics. The Dow Chemical Company operates major polyolefin manufacturing facilities in Canada the value of whose products will be affected by this work. At the same time, the research group of the applicant will be in a unique position to be the pioneers in the study of the physics of the new polymers having a novel molecular structure, and a doctoral student and postdoctoral researcher will have an opportunity to use the unique tools available at McGill to study an important new class of polymers.