Polarized Raman study of random copolymers of propylene with olefins

The polarized Raman spectroscopy is employed in the study of structural modifications in the films of isotactic polypropylene (PP) whose chain contains ethylene, 1-butene, 1-hexene, 1-octene, and 4-metyl-pentene-1, which represents an isomer of 1-hexene. It is demonstrated that the phase and conformational compositions of copolymer molecules depend on the comonomer content and the side-chain length of the second monomer. The content of the PP molecules in the helical conformation in the crystalline and amorphous phases of the copolymers monotonically decreases with increasing content of the second monomer. The decrease in the content of helical macromolecules in the crystalline phase is faster than the decrease in the amorphous phase. At a certain content of comonomers, the total content of the helical fragments decreases with increasing length of the side chain of the second monomer. The structures and Raman spectra of the copolymers of propylene with 1-hexene and 4-methyl-1-pentene are similar.