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Comparative analysis of radical‐mediated polyethylene modifications: Vinyltriethoxysilane versus mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane addition
Author(s) -
Sengupta Saurav S.,
Parent J. Scott
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.20500
Subject(s) - vinyltriethoxysilane , curing (chemistry) , degree of unsaturation , materials science , polyethylene , silane , selectivity , grafting , surface modification , organosilicon , polymer , hydrogen peroxide , polymer chemistry , moisture , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , chemistry , composite material , catalysis , engineering
The efficiency and selectivity of two approaches for introducing alkoxysilane functionality to polyethylene (PE) are examined along with the moisture‐curing performance of the resulting products. Although the peroxide‐initiated grafting of vinyltriethoxysilane to PE is accompanied by undesirable crosslinking, comparable silane contents can be introduced without affecting the melt viscosity through the addition of mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane (MPTES) to the unsaturation within the polymer. Rapid hydrogen atom donation by thiols underlies this unique selectivity for grafting versus molecular weight alteration, and gives rise to a remarkable tolerance of MPTES additions to phenolic antioxidants. Direct comparisons of the moisture‐curing efficiencies provided by the two functionalization techniques reveal few significant differences in crosslink yields or composition distributions. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 46:480–485, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers.