LAUSR

Abstract For the first time, the melt radical grafting of diethylmaleate (DEM) and maleic anhydride (MA) onto oligoamide-11 (OA11) and polyamide-11 (PA11) was performed in presence of new acyloxyimide derivatives in the temperature range 190 °C–250 °C in an autoclave and a mini-extruder, respectively. The DEM grafting degree was studied as a function of reaction temperature, the DEM concentration, the acyloxyimide concentration and its chemical structure. The degree of grafting of DEM was determined by 1H NMR and we obtained a DES (diethylsuccinimate) functionalization degree (FD) as high as 9 mol% onto OA11 when using tBu-NAPI as H-abstractor at 230 °C. However, the transposition of this grafting reaction at a pilot scale did not permit to obtain such a high DES FD while the morphological study of PA11/EVOH blends with the grafted copolymer did not significantly improve the adhesion between the two phases.