New method for post-processing crosslinking reaction

A new processing method to process functionalized polymer materials that are able to crosslink has been developed. The crosslinking reaction occurs after the melt processing stage at moderate temperature and without the addition of external reagents. Maleic anhydride-ethylene copolymer was processed with 1,4-butanediol in the presence of para-toluene sulfonic acid as catalyst. To prevent the reaction in the melt, it was chosen to trap the 1,4-butanediol onto vector particles. The extent of the crosslinking reaction during the mixing at 110 °C has been studied for three different particles taken as vector particles. It was found that Orgasol® polyamide particles are efficient to inhibit the crosslinking reaction in the mixer. The reaction then takes place at 40 °C and after 100 h the cured samples appeared to be highly and homogeneously crosslinked with a gel content above 90%.