Kinetics of the free radical grafting of diethyl maleate onto linear polyethylene

A study of the kinetics of diethyl maleate (DEM) grafting onto linear polyethylene (HDPE) initiated by dicumyl peroxide (DCP), was performed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) which allows the determination of kinetic parameters such as the activation energy Ea and the order of the reaction n. The calculated kinetic parameters depend on the conditions and vary with the feed composition: in particular the values of Ea and n increase with increasing of DCP/DEM ratio because of secondary reactions such as chain extension and degradation. A mathematical model based on the kinetic equations is proposed; it can be used to select feed composition and process parameters to obtain the desired products.