C. Rosales et al., FREE-RADICAL GRAFTING OF DIETHYLMALEATE ON LINEAR LOW-DENSITY POLYETHYLENES, Polymer engineering and science, 36(17), 1996, pp. 2247-2252
Grafting of preformed polymers is an important method for preparing po
lymers with functional groups. Lately, the use of extruders as polymer
ization reactors has increased considerably in industry. However, the
knowledge of the total reaction process is still limited. Grafting of
diethylmaleate on linear low-density polyethylenes (LLDPEs) was carrie
d out in solution and in a corotating twin screw extruder. The effects
of initiator and diethylmaleate concentrations, temperature, and reac
tion time on graft content and on crosslinking were investigated. The
functionalization reaction was also conducted in the presence of an el
ectron donor material to minimize the amount of crosslinked products i
n the extruder. The grafted products were characterized by means of FT
IR and the thermal behavior of LLDPEs and that of its grafted products
was determined.