Crosslinking of an ethylene-glycidyl methacrylate copolymer with amine click chemistry
Journal article, 2017

Commonly used crosslinking methods for polyethylenes result in the release of harmful by-products. Here, we demonstrate that an epoxy-bearing polyethylene copolymer, which contains 8 wt% glycidyl methacrylate, can be efficiently crosslinked without by-product formation. Click chemistry based on multifunctional amine curing agents, which carry at least two functional groups separated by a flexible spacer, was used to prepare thermosets. Compounding of the crosslinker and copolymer through extrusion at 120 °C could be carried out without onset of the curing reactions. Careful adjustment of the curing time and temperature, ranging from 20 to 120 min and 160–200 °C, resulted in a high network density of at least 2.8 crosslinks per 1000 carbons at a curing agent stoichiometry of as little as 0.5 wt%.

Glycidyl methacrylate

Polyethylene copolymer

Crosslinking

Amine

Epoxy

Author

Massimiliano Mauri

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Nina Tran

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Oscar Prieto

Borealis GmbH

Thomas Hjertberg

Borealis GmbH

Christian Müller

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Polymer

0032-3861 (ISSN)

Vol. 111 27-35

Subject Categories

Polymer Chemistry

Chemical Engineering

Driving Forces

Sustainable development

Areas of Advance

Materials Science

DOI

10.1016/j.polymer.2017.01.010

More information

Latest update

10/9/2023