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Study of Reaction Between a Low Molecular Weight, Highly Functionalized Polyethylene and Hexamethylenediamine
Author(s) -
Hameed Tayyab,
Quinlan Patrick J.,
Potter David K.,
Takacs Elizabeth
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.201100117
Subject(s) - hexamethylenediamine , maleic anhydride , materials science , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , polyethylene , polymer chemistry , thermoplastic , amine gas treating , stoichiometry , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , polyamide , polymer , copolymer , composite material , chemistry , engineering
Reactions were carried out between a low molecular weight, highly functionalized maleic anhydride‐grafted polyethylene and hexamethylenediamine in a melt blender at 150 °C for various stoichiometric ratios of functional groups. For all compositions, two peaks were observed in the mixing torque data. The appearance of the first peak, observed soon after the introduction of the reactive mixture to the melt blender, was independent of composition. The second peak was composition‐dependent. Gel content and FTIR analyses suggest that the first peak is a result of melting functionalized polyethylene and a reaction of the anhydride and amine functionalities, while the second was mainly a result of crosslinking. The time between the first and second peak defines a processing window, in which the reaction mixture is thermoplastic. Higher temperature melt processing of the thermoplastic reaction products converted these materials to thermosets. During this conversion, the progress of the anhydride–amine reaction was studied using FTIR, as well as by measuring the generation of the insoluble crosslinked material. The FTIR results reveal that the reaction between anhydride and amine moieties results in the formation of an amide intermediate, which then converts to cyclic imide at higher temperatures. The analysis suggests that the use of the FTIR anhydride absorption to assess the degree of reaction is misleading in these reactions.