Phenolic Antioxidant for Polyolefins from Grafted Phenol on Polyethylene Wax

Abstract

AbstractSummery: This study consists of the preparation of a new polymeric antioxidant from the grafting of phenol on the backbone of chlorinated polyethylene wax by alkylation's reaction in the presence of AlCl3 as catalyst. The chemical structure of the prepared phenolic polyethylene wax(ph ‐ wax) was characterized by FTIR. The thermal oxidation of HDPE was examined by monitoring the amount of O2 uptake by samples of HDPE with the (ph‐wax) volumetrically at 230 °C, also the thermal oxidation degradation of HDPE with the (ph‐wax) derivative was studied by monitoring the weight loss of the samples during heating at 250 °C and under normal air as atmosphere. The results of this study show a decrease in the rate of HDPE oxidation in the presence of ph‐wax at four percent (0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8) %wt/wt of polymer, while the oxidation time of HDPE increased from (5) min. for pure HDPE to reach (41) min. for (0.8) % sample. The thermograms and thermal data of this study indicate that the stability of HDPE increases with the percent of the (ph‐wax) (0.6 and 0.8) wt/wt%. Generally, these results show that phenolic wax has excellent performance as an antioxidant for polyethylene.