| This thesis aims at studying blends of Ethylene-Vinyl-Acetate copolymers (EVA) and metallocene (single-site type) catalyzed elastomeric ethylene-alpha-olefin copolymers (POE), with the purpose of exploring the properties of such blends. Two systems of blends were investigated: one system designed for adhesive applications (EVA1/POE1 and EVA1/POE3), while the other system is targeted for film packaging purposes (EVA2/POE2).; For the adhesive system, two types of metallocene ethylene-alpha-olefin copolymer were studied: the octene-based POE1 and the butene-based POE3. A significant increase over the pure materials in zero shear viscosity and melt elasticity of the blends was observed for both blends, which can be attributed to increased entanglements in the melt.; Both POE and EVA have different strengths and weaknesses that complement each other well and their blends revealed good compatibility between the two pure components. Thus, depending on the compositions these blends can be fine-tuned to meet specific requirements for different applications. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
