Simultaneous Deconvolution of Molecular Weight and Chemical Composition Distribution of Ethylene/1-Olefin Copolymers: Strategy Validation and Comparison

摘要

Ethylene/1-olefin copolymers made with multiple-site-type catalytic systems typically have broad molecular weight distribution (MWD) and chemical composition distribution (CCD) because each site type produces polymer chains with distinct average chain microstructures. In this work, the simultaneous deconvolution of MWD and CCD was investigated to identify the number of site types and chain microstructures made on each site type. Four strategies based on different data sources were tested using the MWD and CCD simulated for an ethylene/1-butene copolymer made with a catalyst having five site types. Our results indicate that the simultaneous deconvolution of the complete bivariate MWD and CCD is the best approach to describe the complete microstructure of the model ethylene/1-butene copolymers.