SUPERMOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF RANDOM COPOLYMERS OF ETHYLENE

The supermolecular structures developed after rapid cryStallizatiOn fr om the melt of a series of ethylene-1-alkene copolymers has been inves tigated by small-angle light scattering. Copolymers with butene, hexen e, octene, or 4-methylpentene as comonomers were studied over a wide r ange in molecular weights and copolymer compositions. It was generally found that for given co-unit content the structural order deteriorate d with increasing molecular weight. When the molecular weight was fixe d, the order deteriorated with increasing co-unit content. However, th e level of superstructure organization was very dependent on the lengt h of the side group. The supermolecular structure, for a given molecul ar weight and composition, was much better developed for the smaller s ide groups than the larger ones. Possible reasons are suggested for th ese structural differences.