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Infrared spectrum of maleic anhydride and maleic acid. 

Infrared spectrum of maleic anhydride and maleic acid. 

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Several attempts have been made to compatibilize immiscible blends by introducing suitably-chosen polymer additives. This work studies the EPDM elastomer, chemically modified with maleic anhydride (MA), through reaction in solution of EPDM and MA, using dibenzoyl peroxide as an initiator. The best conditions for obtaining the maximum grafting were...

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... anhydride (Merck) and dibenzoyl peroxide (VETEC) were recrystallized from chloroform and ethanol respectively, and were employed according to standard procedures. The EPDM was used as received without any additional purification. Small pieces of EPDM elastomer were added to chlorobenzene and heated while stirring. When the temperature reached 80 °C, solutions of maleic anhydride and dibenzoyl peroxide in chlorobenzene were added to the vessel and reacted for different times at this temperature. Then, the graft EPDM-g-MA was precipitated in methanol and it was washed several times with acetone, maintaining it under vacuum at 40 °C for 24 h. The physical mixtures (EPDM/MA) were prepared by dissolving undiluted components in chloroform by stirring and maintaining them at room temperature until complete solvent evaporation. FTIR spectra of EPDM, EPDM-g-MA and EPDM/MA films were carried out in a 16 PC Perkin Elmer spectro- photometer, equipped with a multiple reflectance acces- sory, resolution 4 cm -1 , and performing 20 scans. The films were supported on KRS-5 crystal. In the case of the presence of close bands in the analysis, the spectra can be fitted to evaluate the real contribution of each one, using Origin 4.1 software with Gaussian or Lorentzian bases. The same band height relations were obtained for both functions. Initially, we describe the procedure for determining the extent of grafting of maleic anhydride on to the backbone of the EPDM macromolecule by FTIR spectrum. Figure 1 shows the multiple internal reflectance infrared spectrum of EPDM and EPDM-g-MA, where the inside numbers indicate the assignment according to absorption group as described in Table 1. We may observe the C=O stretching band of maleic anhydride at 1856 (low intensity) and 1780 cm -1 (medium intensity) 5,6 , and a band at 1707 cm -1 due to the C=O stretching group of hydrolised MA in EPDM-g- MA 6 . The band at 922 cm -1 is due to angular deformation outside the plane of the OH hydrogen bonding, which is indicative of MA incorporated in the EPDM rubber. However, the maleic anhydride is partially converted to the acid form under room conditions, and the control of probable mixture of the two extreme forms is very difficult because it is a function of many variables. In order to avoid quanti- ties in both forms, maleic anhydride was totally converted to maleic acid, maintaining it above a water vapour for 4 h, as shown in Fig. 2. We may observe the rise of a band at 1707 cm -1 and the disappearance of bands at 1856 and 1780 cm -1 . This process is reversible, if this sample is heated at 100 °C under vacuum for 24 h 7 . Figure 3 shows the infrared spectrum of maleic anhydride and maleic acid, with only one clear band at 1707 cm -1 in the range of 1690 and 1890 cm -1 . No shifts are observed in the characteristic bands of maleic anhydride grafting or in the physical mixture with EPDM, indicating no change in the group vibration according to whether the components are covalently linked or not. This observation can facilitate the obtention of the calibration curve for the physical mixture. The calibration curve was prepared from the spectrum of physical mixtures of different compositions of maleic acid and EPDM, using the ratio from band heights at 1707 (maleic acid) and 1460 cm (EPDM). These two characteristic bands of each component permit the use of infrared as a quantitative method. However, it is necessary to obtain the calibration curve for the same EPDM, due to a possibility of variable content of ethylene and propylene in the main elastomer chain. The fitting of the spectrum bands was necessary in order to evaluate the ability of different mixtures to abolish the contribution of the band at 1430 cm -1 in the total absorbance and also to avoid intrinsic error . The Lorenz and Gauss mathematical functions give comparable band heights which are different, rising when the MA concentration increases without curve fit. This behavior is expected because the rise of maleic acid increases the band overlay. Figure 4 shows a typical spectrum of EPDM/maleic acid physical mixture with and without fit. Figure 5 shows the band ratio, h 1707 /h 1460 , as a function of different maleic acid concentrations. The linear relation is observed when the fit is used, in contrast to results without fit for the upper concentration of 4%. The grafting of maleic acid on EPDM can be estimated by the curve shown in Fig. 5 as 1.9% weight or 1.9 x 10 -4 mol/g. The determination of grafting maleic anhydride grade was made on a commercial sample of EPDM-g-MA, after being changed into the maleic acid form. The h 1707 /h 1460 ratio was determined in the infrared spectrum (Fig. 6) as equal to 0.07, and the grafting maleic anhydride was obtained from the graph in Fig. 5 as equal to 0.6%. This value agrees with that given by the company supplying the product. There is no effect of maleic anhydride concentration on the degree of maleic anhydride grafting of EPDM (1.7% of diene) rubber, using 2.0 g of EPDM and 0.15 g of dibenzoyl peroxide, at 80 °C for 3 h. The conversion reached a maximum value at 1.9 % weight for all MA ranges studied. This value corresponds to at least 2.9 x 10 -3 g or 2.9 x 10 -4 mol of MA, indicating an equimolar relation with the diene percentage in EPDM monomeric units. The maleic anhydride grafting, at 80 °C and 0.15 g of dibenzoyl peroxide, 2.9 x 10 -3 g maleic anhydride and 2.0 g of EPDM, rises to a maximum after 3 h of reaction (Fig. 7). The conditions described above were used in all experiments to evaluate the MA grafting content. The presence of maleic anhydride grafting on EPDM was made evident by infrared analysis, and it was possible to detect the carboxyl group band of maleic anhydride at 1856 and 1780 cm -1 . The infrared spectrum with band fit minimizes the error in determining the content of maleic acid and it is a simple and useful method for evaluating the percentage of grafting, using the ratio from band heights of the infrared spectrum at specific wave numbers correspond- ing to each component in the ...

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