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In Situ Compatibilization of Isotactic Polypropylene and High-Density Polyethylene by a Melt Cobranching Reaction

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Abstract

Incompatible polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) are difficult to separate in mixed recycling streams such as waste plastic packaging, which makes polyolefin mixtures unsuitable for high-quality products. In this work, based on the free radical branching reaction, a co-branching reaction of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) blends was carried out in the presence of the peroxide, free radical regulator and multifunctional acrylate monomer, and a star-like long-chain branching (LCB) copolymer was obtained. The effect of in situ compatibilization on the structures and mechanical properties of iPP/HDPE was investigated, and the compatibilization mechanism was discussed. Results showed that the mechanical properties of the modified blends were largely improved, and efficient in-situ compatibilization of iPP and HDPE could be taken place in a wide process window. Moreover, the sizes of the dispersed phase in the modified blends were clearly decreased, and the interfacial thickness increased. Compared with the pure iPP/HDPE blend, the initial crystallization temperature of iPP in the modified iPP/HDPE blend was increased, and long branched chains of the LCB copolymers were physically entangled with the chemical identical homopolymers or even participated in the crystallization of iPP and HDPE. Thanks to the in situ compatibilization strategy, the compatibility of iPP/HDPE was significantly improved.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the National Key R & D Plan of China (2019YFC1908200).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials and Metallurgy, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, China

    Jun Wang, Xiaolong Li, Zhu Luo, Xiaosong Xia & Changkai Linghu

  2. School of Materials and Energy Engineering, Guizhou Institute of Technology, Guiyang, 550003, China

    Le Yang

  3. Kingfa Science & Technology Co., Ltd, Guangzhou, 510665, China

    Jianjun Li

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  1. Jun Wang
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  2. Le Yang
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  3. Xiaolong Li
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  4. Zhu Luo
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Correspondence to Zhu Luo or Jianjun Li.

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Wang, J., Yang, L., Li, X. et al. In Situ Compatibilization of Isotactic Polypropylene and High-Density Polyethylene by a Melt Cobranching Reaction. J Polym Environ 30, 1127–1140 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-021-02263-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-021-02263-7

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