Partitioning of main and side-chain units between different phases: a solid-state 13C NMR inversion-recovery...

13C 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.