Effects of Molecular Structure, Rheology, Morphology, and Orientation on Polyethylene Blown Film Properties, 2001 Polymers Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings

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The effects and interactions of polyethylene molecular structure, rheology, morphology and molecular orientation on blown film properties were examined in detail. The molecular structure was examined via gel permeation chromatography (GPC), rheology via standard dynamic oscillatory shear tests, morphology via transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and molecular orientation via both wide angle x-ray scattering (WAXS) and infrared dichroism. Resins of both medium and high molecular weight were examined. The results clearly showed that the resin rheology and molecular structure profoundly affected the extent of lamellar stacking, fibril nuclei and degree of molecular orientation which in turn resulted in substantial changes in blown film properties. Lastly, it was demonstrated that these various characterization methods complement each other very well to provide useful insight into the complex processing-structure-property (P-S-P) interactions in polyethylene blown films.