FTIR study of the melt grafting of high density polyethylene with amino, sulfonate, and mercapto esters

Abstract

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) was melt-functionalized with three different esters at 160 o C in the presence of dicumyl peroxide (DCP), a free radical initiator, under nitrogen atmosphere at different % weight loadings of esters. DCP and the esters were taken for the melt functionalization reaction in 1:1 ratio. FTIR spectroscopy was used to determine the % grafting of esters onto the HDPE backbone quantitatively. Diethyl mercaptosuccinate (DEMS) produced the highest % grafting with lowest % cross-linking values, whereas anthranilic acid cinnamoyl ester (AACE) yielded the highest % cross-linking with the lowest % grafting values.