Everything about Polyolefin totally explained
A
polyolefin is a
polymer produced from a simple
olefin (also called an
alkene) as a
monomer. For example,
polyethylene is the polyolefin produced by polymerizing the olefin
ethylene. An equivalent term is
polyalkene; this is a more modern term, although
polyolefin is still used in the
petrochemical industry.
Polypropylene is another common polyolefin which is made from the olefin
propylene.
Properties
A more specific type of olefin is a
poly-alpha-olefin (or poly-α-olefin, sometimes abbreviated as
PAO), a polymer made by polymerizing an
alpha-olefin. An
alpha-olefin (or α-olefin) is an alkene where the carbon-carbon
double bond starts at the α-carbon atom, for example the double bond is between the #1 and #2 carbons in the
molecule. Common alpha-olefins used as co-monomers to give a
polymer alkyl branching
groups are similar to
1-hexene or may be longer (see
chemical structure below).
Many poly-alpha-olefins have flexible alkyl branching groups on every other carbon of their polymer backbone chain. These alkyl groups, which can shape themselves in numerous
conformations, make it very difficult for the polymer
molecules to line themselves up side-by-side in an orderly way. Therefore, many poly-alpha-olefins don't crystallize or solidify easily and are able to remain oily,
viscous liquids even at lower
temperatures. Low molecular weight poly-
alpha-olefins are useful as synthetic
lubricants such as
synthetic motor oils for vehicles used in a wide temperature range.
Even
polyethylenes
copolymerized with a small amount of alpha-olefins (such as
1-hexene,
1-octene, or longer) are more flexible than simple straight chain high density polyethylene, which has no branching. The
methyl branch groups on a
polypropylene polymer are not long enough to make typical commercial polypropylene more flexible than polyethylene.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Polyolefin'.
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