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Solid‐state modification of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) via grafting of styrene. I. Polymerization experiments
Author(s) -
Picchioni F.,
Goossens J. G. P.,
van Duin M.,
Magusin P.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.12503
Subject(s) - tacticity , materials science , polymer chemistry , grafting , styrene , monomer , polymerization , polypropylene , raman spectroscopy , chemical engineering , polymer , copolymer , composite material , physics , optics , engineering
Grafting of vinyl monomers onto isotactic polypropylene (iPP) in the solid state, that is, below the melting point, displays several advantages over melt or solution grafting processes, such as negligible degradation of the iPP and absence of any solvent. The final properties of such iPP modifications or actually compatibilized PP blends are dependent on the dispersion of the new polymer into the iPP matrix, which is controlled to a large extent by the degree of grafting versus the amount of free homopolymer formed. In the present work, the solid‐state modification of iPP by styrene has been investigated from the point of view of the monomer polymerization behavior. In order to determine the styrene conversion and the distribution of the newly formed PS phase along the radius of the iPP powder particles, the reaction products were characterized by infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. Fractionation of the reaction products via selective solvent extraction allowed the determination of the grafting efficiency (Φ). It was shown that besides the grafted PS two additional types of PS are formed, that is, free PS homopolymer in the pores of the PP powder and free PS in the amorphous PP phase. Phi shows an optimum as a function of the feed peroxide composition and the feeding rate. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 3279–3291, 2003