Fully consistent terpolymeric non-releasing antioxidant additives for long lasting polyolefin packaging materials

Abstract Novel ethylene-based terpolymers containing 0.3–0.7 mol% of a norbornene comonomer bearing an antioxidant phenolic functionality ( N ArOH ) and 1–3 mol% of 1-hexene ( 1-H ) or about 25 mol% of unsubstituted norbornene ( N ) are synthesized. Such terpolymers are structurally fully consistent with, respectively, the widely used family of low-density polyethylenes (LDPEs) and the commercial grades of ethylene-norbornene copolymers, known as cyclic olefin copolymers (COCs). Due to the microstructural similarity, the mentioned matrices and the terpolymeric additives are easily dispersed by melt blending to give new materials with long-term thermal and thermo-oxidative stability and non-realising behaviour.