Reactive extrusion is an attractive means of polymer processing since the shaping
and reaction take place in a single operation. In this paper we report the silane
grafting of polyethylenes in a single screw extruder. The optimum conditions for
silane grafting, viz. temperature, shear rate, silane and DCP concentrations, were
determined on a torque rheometer and then actual extrusion was performed
using these conditions. The study shows that an optimum low level of grafting/
crosslinking can be introduced into polyethylene during its extrusion for better
mechanical behavior and=or thermal stability without affecting the processability.