Radical functionalization of poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate): Effect of cinnamic co-agents on maleic anhydride grafting

Maleic anhydride (MAH), trans cinnamic acid (AcCin) and ethyl cinnamate (EtCin) were radically graft onto poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA). Samples were prepared in Brabender at 175 °C by addition of increasing amounts of MAH, AcCin, EtCin and their combinations, i.e. MAH/AcCin and MAH/EtCin, setting DCP content in the 0.2–0.6 wt% range. Monomer grafting was quantitatively determined by FT-IR. MAH grafting degrees (FDM) resulted up to 1 mol%. Conversely, AcCin grafting degrees (FDA) were found almost negligible in all cases. EtCin was found grafted in the 0.3–1.0 mol% range when the binary system MAH/EtCin was applied. Same MAH feeds returned almost doubled MAH grafting degrees (FDM) when AcCin was the stoichiometric co-agent, and even three times higher FDM when EtCin was the stoichiometric co-agent. On accounts of all the collected results, a kinetic model of the investigated systems is proposed.