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Updated: Sep 21, 2025

Microwave-assisted Functionalization of Polyethylene glycol and On-resin Peptides for Use in Chain Polymerizations and Hydrogel Formation
Published on: October 29, 2013
Compatibilization of iPP/HDPE Blends with PE-g-iPP Graft Copolymers
Kristine Klimovica1, Sanshui Pan2, Ting-Wei Lin1
1Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Baker Laboratory, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States.
Abstract:
The compatibilization of polyethylene (PE) and isotactic polypropylene (iPP) blends is of particular interest due to the challenges associated with recycling these plastics from mixed waste streams. Polyethylene-graft-iPP copolymers (PE-g-iPP) were prepared using a grafting-through strategy by copolymerization of ethylene with allyl-terminated iPP macromonomers in the presence of a hafnium pyridylamido catalyst. Graft copolymers with a variety of graft lengths (Mn = 6-28 kg/mol), graft numbers, and graft spacings were prepared. These graft copolymers were melt-blended with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and iPP (iPP/HDPE = 30/70 w/w), and the blend properties were evaluated by tensile testing. The blends showed enhanced tensile strength at 5 and 1 wt % loading, with higher tensile strength observed for larger block numbers and graft lengths. These results indicate that graft copolymers are efficient compatibilizers for blends of HDPE and iPP.
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