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Abstract: Olefin plastomers/elastomers are typically copolymers with high comonomer contents and low crystallinities. Therefore, the fractionation of these materials with crystallization‐based methods is not feasible. On the other hand, solvent and temperature gradient interaction chromatography (SGIC and TGIC, respectively) are suitable techniques for the separation of olefin copolymers with regard to their chemical composition. In this study, the application ranges of both techniques are investigated and compared for ethylene–propylene (EP) copolymers. A linear dependency of ethylene content versus elution volume is obtained with SGIC in practically the whole ethylene range. In the case of TGIC, a linear dependency is obtained within certain ethylene content limits. The accessible ethylene content separation range for TGIC is 50–100 mol% ethylene, and a broader 26–100 mol% ethylene range is accessible for SGIC, the latter being the technique of choice in the analysis of EP rubbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Classical linear low density polyethylenes (LLDPEs) are copolymers of ethylene and 1-octene or 1-hexene, respectively. In the past, other 1-olefins have been tested as comonomers but the resulting LLDPEs were never commercialized as large scale products. The present study focuses on the use of 1-heptene as an interesting comonomer for the synthesis of LLDPE. For a comparison of the molecular structure and the physical properties of 1-heptene- and 1-octene-based LLDPEs, five Ziegler-Natta LLDPEs of varying comonomer contents based on 1-heptene and 1-octene, respectively, were acquired and analysed using advanced methods. The comonomer contents of the resins were between 0.35 and 6.4 mol %. Crystallization-based techniques revealed similar bimodal distributions that are due to the formation of copolymer and polyethylene homopolymer fractions. The compositional distribution of the copolymers was studied by high-temperature (HT) HPLC and HT-2D-LC. The analytical results indicate similar chemical heterogeneities and molar mass distributions of the two sets of LLDPE up to a comonomer content of 3 mol %. Similar to the molecular structure, the physical properties of the materials are quite similar. At comonomer contents of ≥3 mol % differences between the two sets of samples are seen that are attributed to differences in the abilities of 1-heptene and 1-octene in disrupting the crystal arrangements of the polymer chains in solid state. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016, 54, 962-975 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparative temperature rising elution fractionation (prepTREF) is the standard technique for the preparative fractionation of polyolefins according to crystallisability. For olefin copolymers such as linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), it was believed that the TREF elution temperature correlates directly with the copolymer composition. For copolymers having different bulk comonomer contents, the prepTREF fractions of different samples collected at a given temperature were assumed to have the same chemical composition. It was acknowledged quite early that co-crystallisation effects may disturb TREF fractionation and fractions are obtained that are not completely homogeneous. This, however, has not been investigated quantitatively so far. The fundamental statement of prepTREF is challenged for the first time quantitatively using advanced analytical techniques including high-temperature high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Ethylene-1-octene copolymers having bulk comonomer contents ranging from 0.3 to 6.4 mol% were fractionated by prepTREF, and the fractions were analysed by high-temperature size exclusion chromatography, crystallisation analysis fractionation, differential scanning calorimetry and high-temperature HPLC. All analytical results prove that the TREF fractions collected from different samples at the same elution temperature have different chemical compositions. The chemical compositions of the fractions correlate with the compositions of the bulk samples in that the comonomer contents of similar TREF fractions increase with an increase of the comonomer content of the bulk samples. These results are in clear contrast to the previous assumption that the TREF fraction composition is independent of the bulk copolymer composition for a given copolymer type. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A two-column set-up is used for HT-TGIC of polyethylene oligomers. • Silica acts as non-interactive phase for crystallization and redissolution. • Adsorptive porous graphitic carbon controls migration of eluting oligomers. • Shorter adsorptive columns are more efficient than standard TGIC experiments. • Longer columns reverse separation efficiency and promote remixing of sample. Temperature gradient interaction chromatography (TGIC) at high temperatures is a powerful method for the chemical composition separation of polyolefins. TGIC is a two-step process where the sample is crystallized on the stationary phase at low temperature followed by the elution of the sample components using a temperature gradient towards high temperatures. For TGIC typically a porous graphitic carbon (PGC) stationary phase is used. The separation mechanism is based on crystallization and adsorption/desorption phenomena and it has been shown that co-crystallization and co-adsorption may affect the separation. The present study reports on the simultaneous use of a non-adsorptive and an adsorptive stationary phase (column) in series to utilize both crystallization and adsorption for improved separation in TGIC. A silica column is used as the non-adsorptive support to allow for the crystallization of the polyolefin sample in the absence of an adsorptive force followed by the typical PGC column for adsorption/desorption. Accordingly, the loci of crystallization and adsorption/desorption are well separated from each other and can be adjusted independently. This novel column setup allows the sample to be introduced slowly onto the second (adsorptive) column eliminating possible co-adsorption and poor selectivity. Low molar mass polyethylene comprising of oligomers with approximately C 30 C 130 was used to illustrate the importance of a non-adsorptive column for improved separation. Utilizing a non-adsorptive silica column allows for higher dynamic flow rates during crystallization, which improves separation. Shorter adsorptive columns are found to be more efficient in this experimental protocol as compared to standard TGIC experiments. Smaller PGC column sizes result in reduced longitudinal and Eddy diffusion and, hence, higher resolution of low and high molar mass polyolefins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]