Chloration d'un polyethylene ramifie influence de la temperature et du solvant

The chlorination of branched high-pressure polyethylenes, promoted by u.v. at various temperatures in carbon tetrachloride and 1,1–2,2 tetrachloroethane, has been studied. It has been possible to elucidate the influence of the temperature and the nature of the solvent on the characteristics of the chlorinated polymers.The chlorination is more efficient in carbon tetrachloride, where the efficiency of the u.v. is not affected by the medium.At the same degree of chlorination, the chain-breaking mechanisms are more important in carbon tetrachloride than in tetrachloroethane; they increase when the temperature of the medium increases. The chlorine-saturated polyethylene obtained in carbon tetrachloride is richer in 1,2 dichloroethylene sequences.Below 60°, the yield of chlorinated polymer is the same in the two solvents. Chlorination at higher temperature in tetrachloroethane does not improve the structural regularity or the yield of the chlorine-saturated polyethylenes.