Synthesis and Non-Isothermal Crystallization Behaviors of Maleic Anhydride onto High Density Polyethylene

The grafting reaction for maleic anhydride (MA) onto high density polyethylene (HDPE) was investigated from solution process with initiators. The chemical modification of neat HDPE was carried out with various contents of MA (3-21 wt.%) and initiator (0.2-1 wt.%) at different temperature (80-130 degrees C). The grafting degree was obtained from the titration and the highest grafting degree was 3.1%. The grafting degree increased as the content of MA and initiator increased, however, the highest grafting degree was demonstrated for a particular content of MA and initiator. In the non-isothermal crystallization kinetics, the Ozawa model was unsuitable method to investigate the crystallization behavior of MA onto HDPE, whereas the Avrami and Liu models found effective. The crystallization rate was accelerated as the cooling rate increased, but postponed by combination of MA onto neat HDPE backbone.