Monitoring polyolefin modification along the axis of a twin-screw extruder. II. maleic anhydride grafting

Abstract

The physico-chemical phenomena developing along the screw axis of a twin-screw extruder during the grafting of maleic anhydride (MA) onto polyolefins [polyethylene (PE), ethylene–propylene rubber (EPM), and polypropylene (PP)] were investigated. For this purpose, sampling devices located along the extruder barrel were used to collect polymer samples that were subsequently characterized to follow the degrees of grafting and crosslinking or degradation. A similar evolution of MA grafting was observed regardless of the polyolefin type or MA and peroxide concentration when grafting was performed under identical conditions, that is, the same peroxide type and set temperature. A correlation between the MA grafting and the calculated peroxide decomposition was established. Chemical reactions occurred along the extruder axis until the peroxide was fully converted. More detailed quantitative measurements of the peroxide decomposition and MA grafting would allow the development of accurate process models. The final MA content depended on the polyolefin composition (PE > EPM ≫ PP). As expected for PE, crosslinking occurred in addition to grafting, but after a certain residence time, the PE network degraded. The PP viscosity reduction after MA grafting was due to the conversion of tertiary PP radicals into primary PP radicals after grafting.