Advanced Microanalysis of Functionalized Polyolefins towards Industrial Applications
Lanti Yang1, Lidia Jasinska-Walc2,3, Rob Duchateau2, Mateusz Malus3
1. SABIC, Corporate T&I, Analytical Science Department, The Netherlands
2. SABIC, Corporate T&I, High Performance Materials Department, The Netherlands
3. Department of Chemistry and Technology of Functional Materials, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, Poland
Functional polyolefins (FPO), prepared by catalysis, reveal enhanced properties such as adhesion, compatibility, and mechanical strength in comparison with commercially available non-functionalized counterparts. By incorporation of diverse functional groups in polyolefins, a few highly interesting markets have been identified and the new applications of FPO have been explored. Due to the complexity of the FPO structure, morphology and micromechanical characterization is essential to provide insights on the material microstructure and to correlate it with material bulk properties to support development of FPO for diverse applications.
Here we present several advanced microscopy and microanalysis techniques that we developed for different FPO applications. For example, morphology analysis by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have been used for the characterization of microphase separation in the self-assembled FPO-based block/grafted copolymers [1]. The study provided a better understanding of the relationship between the polymer composition and the materials microphase separation behavior and helped us to identify potential FPO applications as filtration films and compatibilizers for polymer blends. We also demonstrated that the microanalysis by AFM-based quantitative nano-mechanical mapping and fluorescence microscopy was crucial to support the development of FPO as bitumen modifiers enabling better performance and increased lifetime of the final asphalt [2]. Microanalysis revealed that the surface morphology and mechanical properties such as modulus and adhesion changed upon addition of FPO to bitumen. These findings further explained the observed changes in the bulk rheological behavior and adhesion properties for FPO modified bitumen.
Reference
1 T. Defize, M. Bouyahyi, A. Rozanski, L. Yang, B. Patham, T. Sweere, S. Hochstädt, M. Hansen, K. Bernaerts, L. Jasinska-Walc, R. Duchateau, Self-Organization of Graft Copolymers and Retortable iPP-Based Nanoporous Films Thereof, ACS Appl. Polym. Mater., 2022, 4, 6897–6907.
2 M. Malus, J. Bojda, M. Sienkiewicz, M. Bouyahyi, L.Yang, F. Navarro, M. Soliman, R. Duchateau, L. Jasinska-Walc, Structurally well-defined functionalized polyolefins and graft copolymers thereof as bitumen modifiers, Construction and Building Materials, 2023, 390, 131630