Synthesis and structural characterization of ethylene copolymers containing double-decker silsesquioxane as pendant groups and cross-linkage sites by coordinative copolymerization

Abstract The copolymers of ethylene with the double-decker silsesquioxane (DDSQ) were synthesized by copolymerization with the use of metallocene and bis(phenoxy-imine) catalysts. The influence of the kind of the catalyst and polyreaction conditions on the performance of copolymerization as well as on the properties of the copolymers was studied. Depending on polyreaction parameters, the DDSQ contents in the copolymer varied in the range of 0.93–11.53 wt% which determined the compositions and the structural properties of copolymers. DDSQ incorporated into the polymer chain could constitute pendant groups in the main chain or it could act as a cross-linking agent. The ethylene/DDSQ copolymers also had different kinds and contents of unsaturated end groups and they offered interesting morphological and thermal properties including various glass transition temperatures as well as melting and crystallization behaviours.