Chemical modification of ethylene a-olefins copolymers with maleic anhydride was studied by radical reaction in solution, melt mixing and extrusion. The effect of copolymer structure, as the amount and length of the branches, was evaluated on the MA incorporation. The reactions were also achieved in Rheomix 600 (Haake) mixer and Rheocord 9000 (Haake) extruder. Functionalization was determinated by titration and modified ethylene a-olefins copolymers were characterized by Infrared Spectroscopy and Gel Permeation Chromatography. The maleic anhydride incorporation in the ethylene-hexene copolymers increases with the amount of a-olefin. Functionalization of ethylene-octene and ethylene-decene comonomers increases with increasing peroxide concentration until a maximum and then decreases up to a constant value.
Functionalized LLDPE; LLDPE-g-MA; maleic anhydride; a-olefin
