Grafting of polypropylene and its potential use as metal ion adsorption resin

Abstract

Polypropylene (PP) was modified by radical grafting of acrylic acid (AA) in the melt by using dicumyl peroxide (DCP) as initiator. To reach a high grafting degree (GD) without substantially modifying PP-chain structure, a few runs were carried out by employing butyl 3-(2-furanyl)propenoate (BFA), which is a coagent able to preserve the molecular weight (MW) of PP macromolecules in the presence of radical grafting reagents. All the samples were extracted with selective solvents to remove unreacted chemicals and free poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), and the GD was accurately determined by using the FTIR methodology. The GD ranged from 1.51 to 4.67 mol %. High-temperature size permeation chromatography analysis was used to evaluate MW behavior, confirming the control exerted by the presence of BFA on the degradation reactions. DSC, TGA, and SEM analyses were performed to analyze the chemical modification effects on the polymer products' thermal and morphological properties. Finally, selected samples, with a particle size distribution in the range 100-850 lm, were tested as metal ion adsorption resins. Al(III), Cr(III), Zn(II), Cd(II), Pb(II), and Hg(II) were studied, and the highest adsorption efficiency values (in percentage) were obtained for Al(III) (15-20%) and Hg(II) (25-30%).

Polystyrene/calcium carbonate nanocomposites prepared by in situ polymerization in the presence of maleic anhydride

“…When the MA content further increases from 4.2 to 8.4 mol %, the M w has a slight decrease, but the T g further increases to 93°C. This may be explained by the fact that the carboxylic acid group in the polymer backbone and Ca ions of CaCO 3 can form coordination bonds,20–22 resulting in an enhanced interfacial adhesion between PS and nano‐CaCO 3 particles. The increased interfacial interaction has also a contribution to a higher T g of the composite.…”

Polypropylene Spheres Functionalized with Water-Soluble Vinyl Polymers by Photografting for Water Remediation

“…PAA was also immobilized on the surface of a poly­(vinylidene fluoride) membrane activated by γ irradiation and used as a pH-responsive membrane for the adsorption of K­(I) and Mg­(II) ions . Amaro et al functionalized polypropylene with acrylic acid in the melt and used the ground material for the adsorption of Al­(III), Cr­(III), Zn­(II), Cd­(II), Pb­(II), and Hg­(II). In this case, the bulk functionalization of PP by free-radical polymerization in the melt probably modifies the mechanical and structural properties of the materials.…”

“…The single-step photografting was already applied to graft 2-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate to polyethylene films, and the substrate was used to remove Cr­(VI) from water . However, in our work, we proposed methodologies designed to promote the surface activation of PPs with grafted polymer chains of acrylic acid (AA), 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid (AMPS), 2-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA), and 1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (VP). ,− Good selectivity and, in the case of the two-step process, a pseudo-living nature of polymerization reaction were expected.…”