Despite a broad range of commercial applications, polyolefins, including polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), are not recommended for applications that require long-term exposure to elevated temperatures, high electric fields, organic solvents, and combinations of those, due to both chemical and physical stability concerns. This paper discusses current antioxidants/stabilizers and crosslinking technologies and their shortcomings under extreme application conditions. The incompatibility of polar antioxidants in non-polar and semi-crystalline polyolefin prevents homogeneous distribution with adequate concentration required for protecting the polymer chain from thermal-oxidative degradation. A new approach for incorporating hindered-phenol (HP) antioxidant groups in the polyolefin chain offers a specific HP concentration homogeneously distributed in the polyolefin matrix, which not only shows effective antioxidation protection but also in situ form a polymer network via a coupling reaction between two de-protonated HP groups. Instead of weakening the mechanical strength, the resulting crosslinked PE-HP and PP-HP copolymers become stronger after high energy exposure. Furthermore, PE-HP and PP-HP can serve as the antioxidant in PE and PP products, respectively. In a comparative endurance test at 140 oC in air, the well-formulated PP shows significant weight loss within 10 days. On the other hand, the new PP/PP-HP blend with similar HP content can last more than 2 years (&lt;1% weight loss). The overall experimental results suggest the potential of expanding the PE and PP application into high energy areas by applying this polyolefin-bonded antioxidant technology.

Functional polyolefins: Expanding PE and PP application to high energy areas

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.