Modification of polypropylene with maleic anhydride: Ultrasonic irradiation effects

Abstract

The mechanochemical reaction of modificated of polypropylene (PP) with maleic anhydride (MAH) has been studied by ultrasonic irradiation as an energy source at 60°C. Through 23 factorial experimental design, three variables and their interactions were studied: the percentage of MAH, the percentage of benzoyl peroxide (BPO), and ultrasonic irradiation intensity (Watts). According to the results, an increase of wt % of MAH gave a negative effect in the grafting yield; in addition, this negative effect was observed in the interaction of MAH : BPO at a high range of wt %, this behavior is attributed to the homopolymerization of MAH at the experimental conditions employed. The higher positive effect onto the grafting yield was observed for the variable watts (ultrasonic irradiation intensity), even at low intensity. The better interaction of variables gave a MAH grafting degree of 4.65 wt % (93% yield). In addition, the effect of ultrasonic irradiation on the number-average molar mass (Mn), weight-average molar mass (Mw), and polydispersity index (Mw/Mn) was measured. It was observed that the Mw decreased 13.73% and the Mw/Mn also decreased by 11.98%. The o observed effect was attributed to the degradation mechanism induced by the ultrasound, which consists in the generation of macroradicals and their recombination. The product PP-g-MAH was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, also was used to prepare polypropylene–nylon-6 blends. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 68:45–52, 1998