DEVELOPMENTS IN THE SYNTHESIS OF MALEATED POLYOLEFINS BY REACTIVE EXTRUSION

The maleation of conventional and metallocene linear low density polye thylenes by reactive extrusion has been explored with a view to defini ng the conditions necessary for a robust process that provides both hi gh grafting efficiencies (>80%) and minimal degradation or cross-linki ng. The dependence of grafting efficiency on various operating paramet ers (maleic anhydride level, maleic anhydride:initiator ratio, through put rate, direction of screw rotation, temperature) has been establish ed. Literature methods for characterization of the grafted Product bas ed on FTIR or H-1 NMR analysis have been critically examined with resp ect to their ability to distinguish between single unit and oligomeric maleic anhydride grafts and found to yield ambiguous results.