Partitioning of main and side-chain units between different phases:: A solid-state 13C NMR inversion-recovery cross-polarization study on a homogeneous, metal locene-based, ethylene-1-octene copolymer

C-13 NMR inversion-recovery cross-polarization experiments are used to study the phase structure and partitioning of main and side-chain groups in a homogeneous, metallocene-based, ethylene-1-octene copolymer. The results provide strong evidence for a three-phase model, i.e. a rigid, (imperfect) crystalline phase, which is mainly composed of long sequences of methylene carbon atoms of the main chain, a semi-rigid, amorphous interphase (also denoted as 'rigid amorphous'), which is enriched by chain segments bearing methylene and methine carbon atoms of the main chain, and a soft fraction of the amorphous phase (also denoted as 'mobile amorphous'), which is largely composed of side chains and short methylene sequences of the main chain. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).