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The addition of small amounts of PE-POSS to LLDPE greatly improves crystal orientation control upon shearing/elongation.
About
Technology Dr. Bryan Coughlin and his coworkers at UMass Amherst developed an efficient method to synthesize inorganic-organic hybrid copolymers based on polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS). And, they investigated how such inorganic-organic nano-composites can be used to improve properties of polyolefin materials. The investigators have discovered that the addition of a small amount of polyethylene-POSS (PE-POSS) materials developed in the Coughlin lab to commercial samples of linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) greatly improves the melt crystallization and melt flow characteristics of such commodity LLDPE samples. These improved properties will result in increased processing possibilities and enable novel applications of polyolefin materials.