Abstract: An antistatic agent was synthesized by esterification reaction of recycled poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) with palmitic acid. The effects of catalyst content，ratios of PEG to palmitic acid，reaction temperature and time on esterification reaction were studied. It showed that the optimum conditions were as follows: the molar ratio of PEG to palmitic acid was 1.5/1，the amount of catalyst was 0.8 %，the reaction temperature was 140 ℃, and the reaction time was 5 h. The obtained fatty acid ester was used to polyethylene (PE) as antistatic agent. The influences of amount of antistatic agent, storage time of PE sample, and environment temperature on antistatic property were investigated. It was found that the antistatic effect become more obvious with prolonged storage time and increased environment temperature. The optimum antistatic effect was obtained when the content of antistatic agent was 3 phr.

Key words: palmitic acid, antistatic agent, polyethylene, poly(ethylene glycol)