Solvent-Free Functionalization of Polypropylene by Reactive Extrusion with Acidic Peroxides

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-28-1999

Department

Polymers and High Performance Materials

Abstract

Variable quantities of functionalized peroxides bearing carboxylic acid groups were reacted with polypropylene (PP) in a twin screw extruder. Systematic variations in the molecular structure of the peroxides were found to significantly affect the efficiency of grafting the carboxylic acid groups onto PP and the polymer degradation process. This behavior was attributed to the relative reactivities of the different free radicals generated by thermal decomposition of the peroxides. Furthermore, the functionalized polypropylene (ƒ-PP) was investigated as a compatibilizing additive for 80/20 PP/PA-6,6 (polyamide 6,6) blends. With incorporation of the ƒ-PP into the blends, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed an 80°C decrease in the PA-6,6 crystallization temperature. A near linear increase in the impact strength of the blends was observed with ƒ-PP incorporations up to 30% of the PP phase. Blends containing 30% ƒ-PP demonstrated impact properties approaching that of pure PA-6,6.

Publication Title

ACS Symposium Series

Volume

713

First Page

248

Last Page

266

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