SURFACE GRAFT-POLYMERIZATION ON POLYETHYLENE USING MACROINITIATORS

We here report an approach which depends on physically entrapping relatively short terminally functionalized ethylene oligomers into a host polymer film. Given suitably thermally stable initiator groups, this route can be used in either radical or anionic polymerization chemistry. Anionic polymerization, while chemically compatible with the hydrocarbon groups of polyethylene, has not previously been used for surface grafting onto polyethylene because of the absence of suitable methodology to incorporate initiation sites into the polymer.