Maleic anhydride grafting of propylene-ethylene copolymers: Effect of molecular structure

Abstract

Random propylene-ethylene copolymers with low ethylene content (PEC) are of great interest due to their higher impact resistance and lower softening temperature than polypropylene (PP). In this study, PECs are functionalized with maleic anhydride (MA) by reactive mixing (PECg), and the effect of ethylene content and average molecular weight on the effectiveness of scission and grafting reactions are investigated.