The present invention relates to a modified polymerization initiator for a conjugated diene-based polymer, and a modified conjugated diene-based polymer including a functional group derived from the modified polymerization initiator.

A radical polymerization method that enables synthesis, at a high conversion rate, of polymers having a relatively uniform molecular weight and is applicable to various monomers, and an apparatus used for the method. A reaction solution containing monomer and initiator is continuously or intermittently circulated in the apparatus and is heated in a heating-initiation unit to a predetermined temperature simultaneously across a radial direction of a cross section of the flow path whereby the initiator located in a particular volume of the reaction solution is cleaved all at once. The apparatus includes a heating medium production unit 10, a heating medium-reaction solution mixing unit 20, a cooling unit 30, and a recovery unit 40 for a reaction mixture, all communicatively connected by the flow path and optionally a heating reaction unit 60, a cooling unit 70, and a recovery unit 80, all communicatively connected by the flow path.

A radical polymerization method that enables synthesis, at a high conversion rate, of polymers having a relatively uniform molecular weight and is applicable to various monomers, and an apparatus used for the method. A reaction solution containing monomer and initiator is continuously or intermittently circulated in the apparatus and is heated in a heating-initiation unit to a predetermined temperature simultaneously across a radial direction of a cross section of the flow path whereby the initiator located in a particular volume of the reaction solution is cleaved all at once. The apparatus includes a heating medium production unit 10, a heating medium-reaction solution mixing unit 20, a cooling unit 30, and a recovery unit 40 for a reaction mixture, all communicatively connected by the flow path and optionally a heating reaction unit 60, a cooling unit 70, and a recovery unit 80, all communicatively connected by the flow path.

Disclosed herein are highly active dilithio initiators prepared from high molecular weight dienes (C≧6) and methods for the preparation of such compounds. These dilithio initiators result in greater control over polymer microstructure and provide useful polymers and oligomers with low vinyl incorporation.

Provided is an ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer with an ethylene unit content of 15 to 60 mol % and a saponification degree of 85 mol % or more.

A polyolefin-polystyrene multi-block copolymer and a method of making the same are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a polyolefin-polystyrene multi-block copolymer satisfies conditions (a) to (c) determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and condition (d) determined by .sup.13C NMR, (a) a weight average molecular weight (M.sub.w) of 50,000 g/mol to 150,000 g/mol, (b) a molecular weight distribution of 1.5 to 3.0, a differential of concentration fraction to logarithm of molecular weight as a function of logarithm of molecular weight, obtained from GPC, is modeled to a Gaussian function represented by Equation 1, and (d) a polyolefin block contained in the polyolefin-polystyrene multi-block copolymer includes at least one branched chain. The polyolefin-polystyrene multi-block copolymer has a structure in which polystyrene chains are attached to both ends of a polyolefin chain. The polyolefin-polystyrene multi-block copolymer has excellent mechanical properties such as tensile strength, elongation at break, and modulus.

A polyolefin-polystyrene multi-block copolymer and a method of making the same are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a polyolefin-polystyrene multi-block copolymer satisfies conditions (a) to (c) determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and condition (d) determined by .sup.13C NMR, (a) a weight average molecular weight (M.sub.w) of 50,000 g/mol to 150,000 g/mol, (b) a molecular weight distribution of 1.5 to 3.0, a differential of concentration fraction to logarithm of molecular weight as a function of logarithm of molecular weight, obtained from GPC, is modeled to a Gaussian function represented by Equation 1, and (d) a polyolefin block contained in the polyolefin-polystyrene multi-block copolymer includes at least one branched chain. The polyolefin-polystyrene multi-block copolymer has a structure in which polystyrene chains are attached to both ends of a polyolefin chain. The polyolefin-polystyrene multi-block copolymer has excellent mechanical properties such as tensile strength, elongation at break, and modulus.

A method for producing a block copolymer composition including a diblock copolymer and a triblock copolymer each containing a polyolefin-based block and a polystyrene-based block is disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the method includes reacting an organic zinc compound with one or more kinds of olefin-based monomers in the presence of a transition metal catalyst to form an intermediate having an olefin-based polymer block, reacting the intermediate styrene-based monomer in the presence of an alkyllithium compound to form a product having a styrene-based polymer block, and reacting the product with water, oxygen, or an organic acid to form a block copolymer wherein the number of moles of the alkyllithium compound used to form the product is larger than the number of moles of the organic zinc compound used to form the intermediate.

The present invention relates to a method for preparing a modification initiator, the method capable of reducing side reactions to the minimum and obtaining the modification initiator with a high conversion rate, and an apparatus for performing the same, wherein the method includes (S1) reacting a first fluid including a modification functional group-containing compound and a conjugated diene-based monomer and a second fluid including a polymerization initiation functional group-containing compound, and (S2) obtaining a third fluid including a modification initiator prepared by the reaction of Step S1, wherein the modification functional group-containing compound is used in a ratio of greater than 1 mole based on 1 mole of the polymerization initiation functional group-containing compound, the conjugated diene-based monomer is used in a ratio of 1 mole to 4 moles based on 1 mole of the modification functional group-containing compound, and Step S1 and Step S2 are continuously performed.

The present invention relates to a method for preparing a modification initiator, the method capable of reducing side reactions to the minimum and obtaining the modification initiator with a high conversion rate, and an apparatus for performing the same, wherein the method includes (S1) reacting a first fluid including a modification functional group-containing compound and a conjugated diene-based monomer and a second fluid including a polymerization initiation functional group-containing compound, and (S2) obtaining a third fluid including a modification initiator prepared by the reaction of Step S1, wherein the modification functional group-containing compound is used in a ratio of greater than 1 mole based on 1 mole of the polymerization initiation functional group-containing compound, the conjugated diene-based monomer is used in a ratio of 1 mole to 4 moles based on 1 mole of the modification functional group-containing compound, and Step S1 and Step S2 are continuously performed.