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Updated: May 21, 2025

Fabricating Superhydrophobic Polymeric Materials for Biomedical Applications
Published on: August 28, 2015
One-Step Radical-Induced Synthesis of Graft Copolymers for Effective Compatibilization of Polyethylene and
Moritz Kränzlein1, Shilin Cui1, Jenny Hu1
1Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Baker Laboratory, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-1301, United States.
Abstract:
The synthesis of copolymers from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and isotactic polypropylene (iPP) has gained increasing attention due to their ability to improve the recycling of incompatible mixed polyolefin waste feed streams. Herein, we report a new radical grafting process that yields HDPE-g-iPP copolymers from HDPE and iPP by using a commercially available peroxide. Tensile testing of brittle 70/30 HDPE/iPP mixtures with these graft copolymers added showed promising compatibilization, improving the elongation at break of the blends from 20% up to 1080%. Detailed kinetic studies coupled with thermal and rheological characterization revealed optimized conditions for HDPE and iPP macroradical coupling and a deeper understanding of the grafting reaction. This optimization yielded HDPE-g-iPP copolymers that compatibilize HDPE and iPP blends at loadings as low as 2.5 wt %. The versatility of this macroradical grafting reaction was demonstrated by preparing an effective compatibilizer from untreated postconsumer waste plastics.
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