Applications of successive self-nucleation and annealing (SSA) to polymer characterization

A new technique to thermally fractionate polymers using DSC has been recent ly developed in our laboratory. The applications of the novel successive se lf-nucleation and annealing (SSA) technique to characterize polyolefins wit h very dissimilar molecular structures are presented as well as the optimum conditions to thermally fractionate any suitable polymer sample with SSA. For ethylene/a-olefin copolymers, the SSA technique can give information on the distribution of short chain branching and lamellar thickness. In the c ase of functionalized polyolefins, detailed examinations of SSA results can help to establish possible insertion sites of grafted molecules. The appli cation of the technique to characterize crosslinked polyethylene and crysta llizable blocks within ABC triblock copolymers is also presented.