A rheological evaluation of linear and branched controlled‐rheology polypropylenes

Commodity linear and branched polypropylene resins have been modified by means of peroxide initiated chemical degradation in a reactive extrusion process. Data collected from molar mass and linear viscoelastic property measurements have been used to evaluate the L“crossover modulus” and “modulus separation” rheological polydispersity measures and a theoretical justification is provided for the modulus separation index. In the past, these empirical methods have been used successfully to relate molar mass characteristics to rheological properties. Results obtained in this study confirm the validity of the modulus separation index for linear polymers and suggest that it should be used carefully in the analysis of data from branched polymers. Linear viscoelastic data are used to estimate the terminal relaxation time spectra of both the linear and branched materials and a new correlation between modulus separation and relaxation time polydispersity is given.