Preparation of Maleic Anhydride Grafted Poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT-g-MA) by Reactive Extrusion Processing

Abstract

Maleic anhydride (MA) grafted with poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT)—abbreviated as PTT-g-MA—can be used as a compatibilizing agent to improve the compatibility and dispersion of nanofillers and a dispersed polymer phase into PTT matrix. This work suggests the preparation of PTT-g-MA using a mixture of PTT, MA, and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) by a reactive extrusion process. PTT-g-MA was characterized to confirm the grafting reaction of maleic anhydride on PTT chains by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Thermal properties (differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)) and rheological analysis (parallel plates rheology) were used to prove the changes that occurred after the graphitization reaction. The reactive processing route allowed the production of the compatibilizing agent (PTT-g-MA) with good thermal properties and with lower viscosity compared to neat PTT, and this could be an alternative for the compatibilization of polymer blends, as example for PTT/ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) blends and nanocomposites based on PTT matrix.

Effectiveness of the preparation of maleic anhydride grafted poly (lactic acid) by reactive processing for poly (lactic acid)/carbon nanotubes nanocomposites

“…7 The compatibilizer agent is responsible for performing the interaction of immiscible components through functional groups. 6 The main functional groups used are maleic anhydride (MA) 8 and acrylic acid (AA). 9 Maleic anhydride (MA) grafting thermoplastic polymers is typically used as a compatibilizer agent.…”

Effect of Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) Functionalization and Maleic Anhydride-Grafted Poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT-g-MA) on the Preparation of Antistatic Packages of PTT/CNT Nanocomposites

“…Maleic anhydride grafted PTT (PTT-g-MA) was produced by reactive extrusion of PTT, benzoyl peroxide (BPO) supplied by Dinâmica Química Contemporânea (Indaiatuba, SP, Brazil) and maleic anhydride (MA) with 99% purity (Sigma-Aldrich, Saint Louis, MO, USA) according to our previous work [39].…”

“…It can be noted that the addition of the compatibilizer agent decreases the UTS and E compared to neat PTT. This behavior can be explained because the compatibilizer agent prepared by reactive processing has a lower viscosity than extruded PTT, this fact is indicative of breakage of polymer chains [39]. Thus, adding small amounts of PTT-g-MA into PTT can auxiliary for a small reduction in the parameters analyzed.…”

“…As a complement of the functionalization process, the use of compatibilizer agents in polymer/CNT nanocomposites favored a more homogeneous dispersion and a better interaction of CNT with the polymer matrix [10,37]. Compatibilizer agents act in the reduction of interfacial tensions present in blends and composites, resulting in improved interfacial adhesion between the matrix and the disperse phase [37][38][39]. Several works mention the use of compatibilizer agents obtained from grafting reactions of maleic anhydride in polymers such as polyethylene (PE-g-MA) [40], polypropylene (PP-g-MA) [38], poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxy valerate) (PHBV-g-MA) [41] and PTT (PTT-g-MA) [10,39,42].…”

“…There are some works in the literature regarding PTT/CNT nanocomposites [43][44][45][46][47], including work concerning acrylic acid-grafted PTT (PTT-g-AA) [48], but until now, few works have been reported involving the use of the compatibilizer agent, PTT-g-MA, and functionalized and non-functionalized CNT [42]. The compatibilizer agent PTT-g-MA was successfully obtained in our previous work [39] from reactive extrusion of PTT with the addition of benzoyl peroxide and maleic anhydride.…”