Abstract
Rheological Properties of polypropylenes having different molecular structures (linear polypropylene (PPL) and branched one (PPB)) were studied. Both the extensional flow and oscillatory shear flow properties were checked. Especially, the melt strength of polypropylenes having various shear history were investigated by using in-house-made Rheometer (called SMER). Compared to linear polypropylene, the branched polypropylene shows enhanced melt strength during extensional flow due to the retarded relaxation of molecules. When the slope of melt tension was plotted against take up speed of melt strand, the characteristic peak was observed in case of branched polypropylene, while the linear polypropylene shows only monotonously decreasing pattern. This entanglement was partially disrupted by physical forces such as shear during melt extrusion. However, the melt strength of PPB after multiple extrusion is still higher than PPL, implying the loss of elasticity during multiple extrusion is not so comprehensive. On dynamic experiments, PPB shows typical shear thinning behavior and the tangent delta of PPB is lower than PPL, reflecting high elasticity of PPB.