Grafting of maleic anhydride onto polyethylene wax by melt ultrasound and solid co-irradiation

This paper presents a model study to prepare maleic anhydride (MAH)-grafted polyethylene wax (PEW) by using melt ultrasound followed by solid co-irradiation without any initiator or solvent. The MAH graft degree (G) of the product was determined by titration using a solution of organic alkali tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide in ethanol, which had good accuracy and reproducibility. The experimental results showed that MAH was successfully grafted onto PEW by this method, and the G was 1.57%. The co-irradiation processes showed that G and the graft efficiency (G E) first increased and then decreased with the increase of MAH concentration, and G and G E gradually increased with the increase of the total co-irradiation dose in experimental conditions. In addition, a product with a certain G can be obtained by using sole melt ultrasonic treatment.