Grafting of copolymer styrene maleic anhydride on poly(ethylene terephthalate) film by chemical reaction and by plasma method: Optimization of the grafting reaction using experimental design

This work deals with the chemical grafting of a styrene maleic anhydride copolymer on the surface of a previously hydrolyzed polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film 12 μm thick via covalent bond. Two different ways are studied. The first one involves an activation of the hydrolyzed PET by the triethylamine before the grafting step. In the second one, the copolymer reacts with the 4-dimethylaminopyridine in order to form maleinyl pyridinium salt which reacts with alcohol function of the hydrolyzed PET. Characterization and quantification of the grafting are performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Factorial experiment designs are used to optimize the process and to estimate experimental parameters effects. The opportunity to associate the chemical process to a cold remote nitrogen plasma one is also examined.