FUNCTIONALIZATION OF POLYPROPYLENE BY GRAFTING WITH ITACONIC ACID

Grafting of polypropylene was carried out in both boiling xylene and d ecalin as solvent medium with itaconic acid (2-methylenesuccinic acid) as functional polar monomer using 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-bis(tert-butylpero xy)hexane (Lupersol 101) as radical initiator. It was found that the t emperature influenced the percentage of monomer grafted onto polypropy lene and that the amount of monomer incorporated was practically const ant after 5 min. The results also show that the amount of monomer inco rporated is proportional to the initial monomer concentration used in the grafting reaction, although for higher initiator concentrations a reduction in the percentage of grafting was found.