Reactive compatibilization of polyolefin/PET blends by melt grafting with glycidyl methacrylate

The melt free radical grafting of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) onto high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) was carried out in Brabender internal mixer. The GMA content of the grafted HDPE (HDPE‐g‐GMA) was determined through FTIR by means of a calibration curve. The influence of reaction procedure, radical initiator concentration and addition of a co‐monomer (styrene) on the grafting efficiency was examined. Blends of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) with HDPE and HDPE‐g‐GMA (75/25 w/w) were prepared by melt mixing in internal mixer. The morphology of the blends was then analysed by SEM microscopy. PET/HDPE‐g‐GMA blends displayed improved phase dispersion and interfacial adhesion as compared to unfanctionalized PET/HDPE blend.     

Isothermal crystallization behavior of PP and PP-g-GMA copolymer at high undercooling

The study involves synthesis of polypropylene grafted with glycidyl methacrylate (PP-g-GMA) using three different initiators, benzoyl peroxide, dicumyl peroxide and tertiary butyl cumyl peroxide (TBSP). Among the peroxides used, dicumyl peroxide resulted in considerable reduction of molecular weight of the resulting graft copolymer. The melting/crystallization behavior and isothermal crystallization kinetics of PP homopolymer and PP-g-GMA copolymers were studied with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) at high undercooling (44–60°C). The results showed that the degree of crystallinity and overall crystallization rate of copolymers is greater than that of virgin PP. Among the three initiators used, TBCP exhibited lowest half crystallization time. The isothermal crystallization kinetics of the PP and copolymers was described with the Avrami equation and Sestak-Berggren (SB) equation. The Avrami exponent n of the PP and copolymers were found to be in the range 1.03 to 1.41 at high undercooling conditions employed in this study. The agreement between the values of n calculated from SB kinetics and Avrami equation is satisfactory with few exceptions. The crystallization rate of PP-g-GMA copolymer was found to be more sensitive to temperature. The isothermally crystallized samples showed a single melting peak for PP while a double peak at lower temperature was recorded for PP-g-GMA copolymer samples. The equilibrium melting point was deduced according to Hoffman-Weeks theory. The decrease of recorded for the PP modified with GMA suggests that the thermodynamic stability of the PP crystals is influenced by the chemical interactions.     

Effect of functionalization on non-isothermal crystallization behavior of polypropylene

The non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of three functionalized polypropylenes (PPs; polypropylenes-g-acrylic acid [PP-g-AA], polypropylenes-g-glycidyl methacrylate [PP-g-GMA], polypropylenes-g-maleic anhydride [PP-g-MAH]) at different cooling rates were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, using the Jeziorny method, Ozawa method, and Mo method. The result showed that Mo method can adequately describe the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of pure PP and functionalized PPs, and at a given relative crystallinity, the crystallization rate obtained using Mo method followed an order of PP-g-AA > PP-g-GMA > PP > PP-g-MAH. The crystallization activation energy for these samples was calculated using Kissinger's method, which indicated that the introduction of monomers had a confinement effect on the motion of PP chains.     

GMA熔融接枝EPDM的研究

以甲基丙烯酸缩水甘油酯（ＧＭＡ）为接枝单体，过氧化二异丙苯（ＤＣＰ）为引发剂，对三元乙丙胶（ＥＰＤＭ）进行了熔融接枝，在烃链上引入极性基团，以改善ＥＰＤＭ与极性聚合物的相容性。用差示扫描量热计（ＤＳＣ）研究了ＧＭＡ的聚合温度，用富里叶红外（ＦＴ－ＩＲ）、凝胶渗透色谱（ＧＰＣ）对接枝产物进行了表征。实验结果表明，产物的接枝率和凝胶量可以通过反应条件（温度、时间、反应物组成及加料方式）来控制。     

Morphology of Compatibilized Ternary Blends

In this work, the evolution of the morphology of polypropylene/polystyrene/poly(methyl metacrylate) (PP/PS/PMMA) blends to which graft copolymers polypropylene-graft-polystyrene (PP-g-PS) of 2 compositions (55/45 and 70/30), polypropylene-graft-poly(methyl metacrylate) (PP-g-PMMA), or styrene-block-(ethylene- co-butadiene)-block-styrene (SEBS) was added has been studied. The ternary blends morphologies were predicted using phenomenological models that predict the morphology of ternary blends as a function of the interfacial tension between the blend components (spreading coefficient and free energy minimization). All blends studied presented a core-shell morphology with PS as shell and PMMA as core. The addition of PP-g-PS or SEBS resulted in a reduction of the size of the PS shell phase and, the addition of PP-g-PMMA did not seem to have any effect on the diameter of PMMA. The difference observed between the different morphologies relied on the number of droplets of core within the shell. All the phenomenological models predictions corroborated the experimental results, except when PP-g-PMMA was added to the blend.     

Synthesis and characterization of polyethylene‐g‐polystyrene as the compatibilizer for polypropylene/ Polystyrene blends

Polyethylene‐g‐polystyrene (PE‐g‐PS) was synthesized as a compatibilizer for polypropylene/polystyrene­(PP/PS) blends by the living radical polymerization of styrene with polyethylene‐co‐glycidylmethacrylate (PE‐co‐GMA). The compatibilizer effect of PE‐g‐PS on the morphology and thermal properties of PP/PS blends was investigated. The crystalline temperature of PP in PP/PS blends decreased with increasing PE‐g‐PS contents. Morphologies of PP/PE‐g‐PS/PS blends showed much better dispersion of each domain for higher PE‐g‐PS contents. The molecular weight of PS segment in PP/PE‐g‐PS/PS blend was increased by addition of styrene monomer during the post melt blending process where post living radical polymerization reaction proceeded. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Functionalization of Styrene-Olefin Block Copolymers by Melt Radical Grafting of Glycidyl Methacrylate and Reactive Blending with PET

Blocks copolymers styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene (SEBS) and styrene-b-(ethylene-co-propylene) (SEP, SEPSEP), with different styrene content and number of blocks in the chain, were functionalized with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) by melt radical grafting. The influence of monomer concentration, radical initiator and copolymer structure on the grafting degree was examined. The grafted copolymers were characterised by DSC and capillary rheometry. Blends of PET with functionalized SEBS and SEPSEP showed a marked improvement of phase morphology and elongation at break when compared to blends with unfunctionalized copolymers.     

Preparation, structure and properties of PP-g-AA grafting copolymer

Polypropylene grafting with AA was prepared by reactive extrusion with pre-irradiated PP (rPP) as the homogeneous initiator. The effects of the pre-irradiated dose, the fraction of rPP and the concentration of acrylic acid on the grafting reaction were studied and the grafted PP was characterized by Fourier transition infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and polarized light microscopy (PLM). The results show that the degradation of PP was suppressed efficiently with this novel method for preparing PP-g-AA copolymers, and the grafted copolymers with good mechanical properties were obtained. It was found that the product with higher graft degree (G _d)(0.19%) and relatively excellent mechanical properties can be produced if the mass ratio of PP/rPP/AA is 90:10:0.8, where the selected pre-irradiation dose of rPP is 4 kGy. Moreover, an adhesive strength of 4.88 kN/m was reached in the PP-g-AA/aluminum laminate. __________ Translated from Chinese Journal of Applied Chemistry, 2007, 24(7): 737–741 [译自: 应用化学]     

Study on anti-UV aging mechanism of PP-<Emphasis Type="Italic">g</Emphasis>-AN in the PP/PP-<Emphasis Type="Italic">g</Emphasis>-AN blend

In order to verify the anti-UV aging mechanism about polypropylene-grafting-acrylonitrile (PP-g-AN) to polypropylene (PP), the structural analysis of the PP/PP-g-AN blend before and after aging was carried out via the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR) and UV-visible Absorbance Spectrum (UV–Vis). Inference on PP-g-AN anti-aging process was proposed and confirmed.     

The relative role of coalescence and interfacial tension in controlling dispersed phase size reduction during the compatibilization of polyethylene terephthalate/polypropylene blends

The breaking thread and the sessile drop methods have been used to evaluate the interfacial tension between a polypropylene (PP) and a polyethylene-terephthalate (PET). An excellent correlation was found between the two. The breaking thread technique was then used to evaluate the interfacial tension of these blends at various levels of a styrene-ethylene butylene-styrene grafted with maleic anhydride (SEBS-g-MA) compatibilizer. In order to evaluate the relative roles of coalescence and interfacial tension in controlling dispersed phase size reduction during compatibilization, the morphology of PP/PET 1/99 and 10/90 blends compatibilized by a SEBS-g-MA were studied and compared. The samples were prepared in a Brabender mixer. For the 10/90 blend, the addition of the compatibilizer leads to a typical emulsification curve, and a decrease in dispersed phase size of 3.4 times is observed. For the 1/99 blend, a 1.7 times reduction in particle size is observed. In the latter case, this decrease can only be attributed to the decrease of the interfacial tension. It is evident from these results that the drop in particle size for the 10/90 PP/PET blend after compatibilization is almost equally due to diminished coalescence and interfacial tension reduction. These results were corroborated with the interfacial tension data in the presence of the copolymer. A direct relationship between the drop in dispersed phase size for the 1/99 PP/PET blend and the interfacial tension reduction was found for this predominantly shear mixing device. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 35 : 2271–2280, 1997     

Reactive processing of polymers: Structural characterisation of products by H and C NMR spectroscopy for glycidyl methacrylate grafting onto EPR in the absence and presence of a reactive comonomer

Grafted GMA on EPR samples were prepared in a Thermo-Haake internal mixer by free radical melt grafting reactions in the absence (conventional system; EPR-g-GMA_CONV) and presence of the reactive comonomer divinyl benzene, DVB (EPR-g-GMA_DVB). The GMA-homopolymer (poly-GMA), a major side reaction product in the conventional system, was almost completely absent in the DVB-containing system, the latter also resulted in a much higher level of GMA grafting. A comprehensive microstructure analysis of the formed poly-GMA was performed based on one-dimensional ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and the complete spectral assignments were supported by two-dimensional NMR techniques based on long range two and three bond order carbon-proton couplings from HMBC (Heteronuclear Multiple Bond Coherence) and that of one bond carbon-proton couplings from HSQC (Heteronuclear Single Quantum Coherence), as well as the use of Distortionless Enhancement by Polarization Transfer (DEPT) NMR spectroscopy. The unambiguous analysis of the stereochemical configuration of poly-GMA was further used to help understand the microstructures of the GMA-grafts obtained in the two different free radical melt grafting reactions, the conventional and comonomer-containing systems. In the grafted GMA, in the conventional system (EPR-g-GMA_CONV), the methylene protons of the GMA were found to be sensitive to tetrad configurational sequences and the results showed that 56% of the GMA sequence in the graft is in atactic configuration and 42% is in syndiotactic configuration whereas the poly-GMA was predominantly syndiotactic. The differences in the microstructures of the graft in the conventional EPR-g-GMA_CONV and the DVB-containing (EPR-g-GMA_DVB) systems is also reported     

Microhardness of compatibilized blends of polypropylene with a semiflexible liquid-crystalline polymer

 The Vickers microhardness of blends of isotactic polypropylene and a semiflexible liquid-crystalline polymer (iPP/LCP 90/10 and 80/20 w/w), compatibilized with 2.5, 5 or 10 wt% PP-g-LCP copolymers with different composition has been studied. It has been shown that the microhardness values of uncompatibilized blends are close to the additive ones, while for compatibilized blends a strong positive deviation from additivity has been established. This result is interpreted by the increase in the degree of crystallinity of PP, by the decrease in the surface free energy of PP crystals and by the decrease in the surface free energy of the LC domains when the PP-g-LCP compatibilizer is present. The effect of the composition and concentration of the compatibilizer on the experimental hardness values has also been studied. The values of the microhardness/modulus of elasticity of some of the materials have been obtained. It is demonstrated that according to these values the compatibilized blends take a position closer to the elastic material in the elastic–plastic spectrum than the uncompatibilized blends. The results are interpreted by the compatibilizing efficiency of PP-g-LCP copolymers towards iPP/LCP blends. Received: 18 June 2001 Accepted: 4 October 2001     

多组分单体接枝聚丙烯/尼龙6反应共混物结晶行为研究

用多组分熔融接枝的方法将甲基丙烯酸缩水甘油酯 (GMA)和苯乙烯 (St)共同接枝到聚丙烯 (PP)上 ,制得具有较高GMA接枝率的多单体接枝聚丙烯 ,PP g (GMA co St) .将PP g (GMA co St)与尼龙 6 (PA6 )进行共混 ,利用扫描电镜 (SEM) ,差示扫描量热计 (DSC)和广角X射线衍射 (WAXD)对共混物的形态和结晶进行了研究 .在共混过程中 ,PP g (GMA co St)与PA6反应原位生成了PP g PA6 ,有效改善了共混物的相容性 ,分散相尺寸明显减小 .在PP g (GMA co St) PA6为 3 7的体系中 ,PP g (GMA co St)出现分级结晶现象 ,其在较低温度下的结晶属于均相成核结晶 .在PP g (GMA co St) PA6为 7 3的体系中 ,由于PA6相分散细微 ,在通常结晶温度下不结晶 ,而是在低温下均相成核与PP g (GMA co St)同时结晶 .WAXD证实体系中接枝PP ,PA6为分别结晶 ,无共晶或新的晶型产生     

甲基丙烯酸缩水甘油酯/苯乙烯固相接枝聚丙烯

以苯乙烯(St)为共单体，过氧化苯甲酰(BPO)为引发剂，采用固相接枝反应将甲基丙烯酸缩水甘油酯(GMA)接枝到聚丙烯(PP)大分子链上。研究了反应时间、单体用量、引发剂用量等因素对接枝率的影响。采用凝胶渗透色谱(GPE)测定了PP和接枝物PP-g-(GMA-St)的分子量和分子量分布。结果 表明固相接枝PP反应条件为[GMA／[St]=2，反应3．5h，加入GMA 10份，BPO 5份。St的加入有助于GMA与PP的接枝，同时在一定程度上抑制了PP的降解。     

A novel route to the synthesis of PP-g-PMMA copolymer via ATRP reaction initiated by Si-Cl bond

The copolymerization of propylene with allyldimethylsilane (ADMS) was carried out with conventional Ziegler-Natta catalyst supported on MgCl₂. The effects of the concentration of ADMS in the feed on the polymerization reaction and copolymer properties were investigated. The resulting copolymer PP-co-ADMS was chlorinated to PP-Si-Cl by refluxing the copolymer with SOCl₂ in benzene. The chlorinated copolymer was used to initiate ATRP of MMA with CuCl/PMDETA as catalyst to produce graft copolymer PP-g-PMMA, which was characterized with ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, GPC and DSC. Polymer blend of iPP/PP-g-PMMA/PMMA was prepared and the results shown that PP-g-PMMA was an effective compatilizer.     

Styrene-assisted melt free radical grafting of glycidyl methacrylate onto polypropylene

The free radical grafting reactivity of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) onto polypropylene (PP) in the molten state is low. This article shows that adding styrene as a second monomer (or comonomer) increases both the rate and yield of GMA grafting and reduces PP chain scission. The proposed mechanism is that when St is added to the PP/GMA/peroxide grafting system, St reacts first with PP macroradicals to form stable styryl macroradicals. These latter then react (or copolymerize) with GMA to form GMA grafted PP. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 36: 1053–1063, 1998     

熔体自由基反应法制备聚丙烯/碳纳米管复合材料

以2,5-二甲基-2,5-双（叔丁基过氧基）己烷（DHBP）在聚丙烯体系中引发形成自由基,以二硫化四甲基秋兰姆（TMTD）调控自由基反应,通过熔融共混一步法制备了共价接枝的聚丙烯/碳纳米管（PP/CNTs）复合材料。 通过拉曼光谱和透射电子显微镜证明发生了共价接枝反应,并研究了PP/CNTs的结晶性能、热性能与力学性能。 结果表明,发生共价接枝的PP/CNTs与未接枝的PP/CNTs及PP相比,其结晶温度分别提高了2.6和12.0 ℃,热分解温度T5%分别提高了6.4和34.8 ℃,其拉伸强度和拉伸模量略有提高,冲击强度分别提高了56.7%和58.1%。     

Morphologies, crystallinity and dynamic mechanical characterizations of polypropylene/polystyrene blends compatibilized with PP-g-PS copolymer: Effect of the side chain length

PP-g-PS copolymers were synthesized with the same polypropylene (PP) backbones and various side chain lengths of PS sequences via reactive comonomer p-allyltoluene (p-AT) by Ziegler–Natta copolymerization and the subsequent living anionic graft-polymerization. ¹H NMR characterized that the PP-g-PS copolymer had grafted 3.15 side chains per 1000 carbons in the PP backbones and the length of PS sequences varied in the range of 25.8–309.9 units. PP/PS blends with the PP-g-PS copolymer as compatibilizer (wt. 75/25/5) were prepared and characterized by SEM, WAXD and DMA to investigate the morphologies, crystallinity and glass transition temperatures of the PP/PS blends. All the results pointed out that the average side chain length (GL) of the graft copolymer (GL is from 25.8 to 309.9) made great effects of the PP/PS blends, such as the PS dispersed phase, the crystallinity of the PP component and the two glass transition temperatures of the blends, which showed the same trend with the increase of the GL. Overall, only with a suitable average side chain length, the PP-g-PS copolymer could achieve optimal compatibilizing efficiency of the PP/PS blends.     

多单体接枝聚丙烯对PBT/PP共混体系的形态结构及力学性能影响研究

研究了甲基丙烯酸缩水甘油酯 (GMA)和苯乙烯 (St)多单体熔融接枝聚丙烯 (PP g (GMA co St) )对聚对苯二甲酸丁二酯 (PBT) 聚丙烯 (PP)共混物的形态结构和力学性能的影响 .利用双螺杆挤出机对PBT PP合金进行共混挤出 ,使用DSC、FT IR和SEM、TEM等手段对共混物进行了分析和相形态观察 ,并测试了力学性能 .实验证明 ,熔融共混过程中PP g (GMA co St)的环氧基团可以与PBT的端羧基发生化学反应 ,就地生成了PBT g PP共聚物 ,该共聚物可对PBT PP合金起到良好的增容剂作用 ,使共混物的相区尺寸显著减小 ,共混物的拉伸强度和冲击强度等力学性能同时得到明显改善 ,达到了弹性体系或小分子增容所难以达到的力学性能平衡的效果 .此外 ,TEM的研究还在PBT PP g (GMA co St)共混物中发现了特殊的微相分离结构     

Reactive processing of polymers: Effect of bifunctional and tri-functional comonomers on melt grafting of glycidyl methacrylate onto polypropylene

Two reactive comonomers, divinyl benzene (DVB) and trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TRIS), were evaluated for their role in effecting the melt free radical grafting reaction of the monomer glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) onto polypropylene (PP). The characteristics of the GMA-grafting systems in the presence and absence of DVB or TRIS were examined and compared in terms of the yield of the grafting reaction and the extent of the main side reactions, namely homopolymerisation of GMA (poly-GMA) and polymer degradation, using different chemical compositions of the reactive systems and processing conditions. In the absence of the comonomers, i.e. in a conventional system, high initiator concentrations of peroxides were typically required to achieve the highest possible GMA grafting levels which were found to be generally low. Concomitantly, both poly-GMA and degradation of the polymer by chain scission takes place with increasing initiator amounts. On the other hand, the presence of a small amount of the comonomers, DVB or Tris, in the GMA-grafting system, was shown to bring about a significant increase in the grafting level paralleled by a large reduction in poly-GMA and PP degradation. In the presence of these highly reactive comonomers, the optimum grafting system requires a much lower concentration of the peroxide initiator and, consequently, would lead to the much lower degree of polymer degradation observed in these systems. The differences in the effects of the presence of DVB and that of TRIS in the grafting systems on the rate of the GMA-grafting and homopolymerisation reactions, and the extent of PP degradation (through melt flow changes), were compared and contrasted with a conventional GMA-grafting system.