The addition of the chain extender increases the molecular
weight of these polymers. The chain extension is achieved by the
reaction of end groups of polycondensates with a bi- or multifunctional reactive component. Depending on their chemistry, they can
either couple two or more equal or unequal end groups. A bi-functional chain extender with a low molecular weight will lead to a
strictly linear polymer, because it will couple exactly two, typically
equal end groups. A relatively high amount of linear chain extender
is needed to achieve a significant increase in molecular weight of
the resulting chain-extended polycondensate. Multifunctional
extenders with low molecular weight face the problem of a relatively small processing window. Overdosing of the additive leads
to too much crosslinking and gelation, which makes the material
impossible to process with regular extrusion or injection moulding
equipment [21].