Graft Copolymeriztion of Glycidyl Methacrylate/Styrene onto Polypropylene in Solid State

Radical grafting of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) onto polypropylene (PP) powder was studied in this research. The reaction temperature was below the melting point of PP so that the reaction was carried out in solid state. Styrene (St) acting as electron donor compounds was used as grafting comonomer and xylene was used as interfacial agent to swell the PP powder. The effects of monomer and comonomer concentration on the graft degree were investigated. The FT-IR spectra of the grafted PP demonstrated that GMA and St were grafted onto PP backbone successfully and the polarization optical micrographs showed that the grafted chains acted as nucleating agent and speeded up the crystallization process.