Phase Structure and Crystallization Behavior of Polyethylene in Its Blends with cis-1,4-Butadiene Rubber

Phase structure and crystallization behavior of polyethylene （PE） in its blends with cis-1,4-butadiene rubber （BR） at different blend ratios and sample preparation conditions were studied. The PE is finely dispersed in the BR matrix. For samples hot pressed at 145 ℃, circular PE microdomains with randomly oriented PE lamellar aggregates were produced. The domain size and number increase with increasing PE content. When the PE content is over 10 wt%, most of the PE domains impinged each other. The separated PE domains are connected by PE stripes with parallel arranged lamellar aggregates. For samples hot pressed at 140 ℃, elongated PE microdomains with oriented PE lamellar aggregates were obtained due to the shear flow. The crystallization of PE in the blends depends on the phase structure. Confined crystallization of PE occurs in small microdomains at relatively low temperature. With the increase of domain size, the crystallization ability of PE increases while the confined crystallization decreases.

Morphologies and Mechanical Properties of Cis-1,4-butadiene Rubber/Polyethylene Blends

The mechanical properties and phase morphologies of cis-1,4-butadiene rubber（BR） blended with polyethylene（PE） at different blend ratios were studied. The tensile test results show that the PE exhibits excellent reinforcing capabilities towards BR. Blending BR with PE results in a remarkable enhancement of tensile strength, modulus and the elongation at break simultaneously. An increment of tensile strength from 1.11 MPa to 16.26 MPa was achieved by incorporation of 40 wt% PE in the blends. The modulus and elongation at break of 40/60 PE/BR blends are also about 5 times higher than those of the pure BR treated under exactly the same conditions. The tear test indicates that the tear strength also increases with the increase of PE content. It reaches 58.38 MPa for the 40/60 PE/BR blend, which is approximately 10 times higher than that of the pure BR. Morphological study demonstrates that the PE forms elongated microdomains finely dispersed in the BR matrix when its content is over 30 wt%, which corresponds to the remarkably enhanced mechanical properties.According to the results, reinforcement mechanism of PE toward BR dependent on the microstructure has been discussed and two different mechanisms have been proposed.

Polymerization of 1,3-Butadiene Catalyzed by Cobalt(Ⅱ) and Nickel(Ⅱ) Complexes Bearing Pyridine-2-imidate Ligands

Cobalt and nickel complexes （la-ld and 2a-2d, respectively） supported by 2-imidate-pyridine ligands were synthesized and used for 1,3-butadiene polymerization. The complexes were characterized by IR and element analysis, and complex la was further characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The solid state structure of complex la displayed a distorted tetrahedral geometry. Upon activation with ethylaluminum sesquichloride （EASC）, all the complexes showed high activities toward 1,3-butadiene polymerization. The cobalt complexes produced polymers with high cis-1,4 contents and high molecular weights, while the nickel complexes displayed low cis-l,4 selectivity and the resulting polymers had low molecular weights. The catalytic activities of the complexes highly depended on the ligand structure. With the increment of polymerization temperature, the cis-1,4 content and the molecular weight of the resulting polymer decreased.