The Influence of Chemical Structure on Polyolefin Melt Rheology and Miscibility

The ability to predict polymer properties from a knowledge of the chemical architecture of the chains is one of the main goals of polymer science, and achievement of this can be very useful in the development of new polymeric materials. In this paper the connection between dimensions of polyolefin chains and some of their most fundamental properties, such as the degree of entanglement and miscibility, are described. The experimental and theoretical justifications of these relations are outlined in the first sections, and then the ways these can be used to predict the performance of polyolefins are demonstrated. Finally, other areas where such connections may be found in the future are suggested.