Modeling Rheological Properties of HDPE Based on Polymerization Kinetics

Abstract

A three-step modeling approach to obtain rheological properties from the kinetics of the metallocene-catalyzed homopolymerization of ethene is developed. With that, linear as well as slightly branched high-density polyethylene is investigated. Therefore, a deterministic kinetic model of the metallocene-catalyzed polymerization of ethene is set up and coupled with a Monte Carlo algorithm to obtain molecular weight distributions and polymeric microstructures. The topological information is used as input for the rheology model to compute linear and non-linear rheological properties.