Melting temperature of thermally reversible gel. VI. Effect of branching on the sol舑gel transition of polyethylene gels

Abstract

The gel-melting temperatures of branched polyethylene舑cyclohexane舑carbon disulfide gels were measured. Branched polyethylenes having a different number of long-branching points were used. The reciprocal of the gel-melting temperature is a linear function of the logarithm of the polymer concentration. A theory which predicts the gel-melting temperature of branched crystalline copolymers is given. Analysis of the experimental data suggests that the size of the crystalline junction decreases with an increase in the number of long-branching points. © 1980 The Society of Polymer Science, Japan.