Heterogeneous grafting of maleic anhydride and alpha-methylstyrene from atactic polypropylene

Atactic polypropylene (PP) is an amorphous short-chained by-product of isotactic polypropylene (IPP). Due to its enhanced solubility, PP is a suited model polymer for kinetic studies of iPP melt reactions. The maleination of PP via radical grafting at high temperatures was investigated. Since maleic anhydride (MAA) produces discoloring oligomers, PP was grafted with a mixture of MAA and a-methylstyrene (MS). Advantageous is that MS cannot homopolymerize at high temperatures and that MAA and MS tend to copolymerize alternatingly (to colorless products). The kinetics of the grafting process is complicated by a phase separation of PP and [MAA+MS] that is caused by the special attractions between the two monomers. As a result, two grafted PP products are obtained, of which the major is only slightly but the minor is heavily grafted. The latter graft copolymer, which is probably created in the interfaces between phase domains, carries one MAAMS graft per PP back bone chain, approximately with three MAA and five MS units.