2P-30 : A Study on the Improvement of the Graft Ratio of HDPE-g-GMA using the Design of Experiments

Glycidyl methacrylate(GMA) is capable of reacting with various other functional groups such as carboxyl, hydroxyl, amine, thiol. So, GMA-g-Polymer can be used as a compatibilizer for various polymer blends. (PET, PBT, Nylon and PPS) In this study, Design of Experiments(DOE) was used to determine the composition and process conditions for achieving the high graft ratio of GMA on High-density Polyethylene(HDPE). The batch mixer was used for the melt graft process and graft ratio was determined by back-titration. The process conditions(Reaction temp., time and rotor speed) are factors that affect graft yield and the composition(Content of GMA, Peroxide and Styrene monomer) has beed identified as factors that affect graft ratio. In addition, when styrene monomer(SM) is added as comonomer, it reacts first wih PE secondary macroradical and then GMA reacts to show the effect of improving graft ratio and yield.