Surface designing of polypropylene by critical monitoring of the grafting conditions

The grafting of acrylic acid onto electron beam‐irradiated polypropylene was carried out using preirradiation method. The stability of peroxy radicals was investigated by electron spin resonance. It was found that the decay of peroxy radicals is much faster at 70°C than at 40°C and ambient temperature. The grafting has been observed to be strongly dependent on the monomer dilution in the reaction medium. The grafting was ascertained by attenuated total reflectance (ATR). The distribution of grafts across the samples was monitored by infrared microscopy. It was found that the graft management is considerably influenced by composition of the grafting medium. The grafting involving pure monomer leads to the surface enrichment with the polyacrylic acid chains. The samples grafted in pure monomer led to much lower contact angles as compared to the diluted monomer solution. The swelling of the grafted samples also showed a trend that was governed by the graft management. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 546–553, 2006     

Microwave plasma‐initiated grafting of acrylic acid on Celgard 2500 membrane to prepare alkaline battery separators—Characteristics of process and product

A process of plasma‐initiated grafting of acrylic acid on commercial porous polypropylene membrane was studied. The influence of parameters of the plasma (power, gas pressure, time plasma‐sample distance, sample arrangement) and grafting (solvent composition, monomer concentration, time, inhibitor presence) on the degree of grafting, amount of homopolymer produced and surface electrical resistance was determined. A degree of grafting up to 18 mmol/g was obtained, which resulted in sample resistance as low as 30 mΩ cm². The molecular weight of AAc homopolymer that can be assumed as equal to the MW of grafted chains, ranged from 25,000 to 50,000,000 da. SEM and water permeability measurements show that grafting causes filling of the pores, which, however, does not stop K⁺ ions from penetrating the membrane. The performance of nickel‐cadmium cells with acrylic acid grafted membranes as separator is also presented. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Graft polymerization of acrylic acid onto polyethylene film by preirradiation method. II. Effects of oxygen at irradiation,storage time after irradiation,mohr's salt,and ethylene dichloride

In the grafting of acrylic acid onto polyethylene by preirradiation method, the irradiation in air gave a higher rate of grafting than in N₂, since the diffusion rate of monomer is larger for less crosslinked polyethylene. The rate of grafting decreased with increasing time of storaging polyethylene because of the decay of trapped radicals. The effects of storage conditions on the grafting activity was reasonably interpreted by assuming that grafting is predominantly controlled by both concentration of trapped radicals and monomer diffusibility in the polymer matrix. Mohr's salt was found to depress the homopolymerization of acrylic acid without marked change of grafting rate. The rate of grafting was increased by the addition of ethylene dichloride due to the increase in monomer diffusion.     

Plasma-induced hydrogel grafting of vinyl monomers on polypropylene

Polypropylene (PP) film was plasma-treated using a 13.56 MHz direct plasma with argon, nitrogen, and oxygen as the plasma-forming gases. The three gases induced very different changes on the PP film surface, which were studied using contact angle measurements. Because of its degrading and oxidative effect, oxygen plasma pretreatment was not used for the homogeneous grafting of acrylic acid and acrylamide. Nitrogen plasma treatment did not lead to the formation of stable peroxides on the film surface and did not undergo grafting reactions. This may be due to the types of radicals and functional groups created on the surface during the plasma treatment. Finally, argon plasma pretreatment was found to be the most effective for the grafting of vinyl monomers. The amount of grafted poly(acrylic acid) was shown to be proportional to the concentration of peroxides created by argon plasma treatment.     

Radiation grafting of acrylic acid onto fluorine-containing polymers. I. Kinetic study of preirradiation grafting onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene)

Preirradiation grafting of acrylic acid onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene) film was studied. The trapped radicals formed upon irradiation are able to induce graft polymerization under appropriate conditions. The influence of the grafting conditions were analyzed kinetically. The grafting reaction begins close to the film surface and proceeds into the center with progressive monomer diffusion through the grafted layer. The dependences of the grafting rate on preirradiation dose and monomer concentration were found to be 0.2 and 1.1 order, respectively. The overall activation energies for this grafting were calculated to be 15.2 and 4.8 kcal/mol below and above 35°C, respectively. The relationship between the grafting rate and film thickness gave a negative first-order dependence.     

Distribution of acrylic acid grafted chains introduced into polyethylene film by simultaneous radiation grafting with water and ethanol as solvents

The graft copolymerization of acrylic acid onto low‐density polyethylene films by simultaneous γ‐ray irradiation was carried out. The effect of water and ethanol as grafting solvents on the distribution of grafted poly (acrylic acid) in the low‐density polyethylene films was studied with optical microscopy observations of dyed and sliced samples and attenuated total reflection/Fourier infrared spectroscopy analysis. When no vigorous homopolymerization occurred, both polyethylene and poly(acrylic acid) existed in the grafted layer, and the thickness of the grafted layer and the poly(acrylic acid) concentration in the grafted layer increased with an increasing degree of grafting, regardless of the grafting conditions, the former increasing faster than the latter. In comparison with water as the solvent, in the absence of the inhibitor, homopolymerization could be suppressed to a certain degree in the ethanol solvent system, whereas in the presence of the inhibitor, obvious homopolymerization occurred at a lower monomer concentration, and both the degree of grafting and the thickness of the grafted layer were lower. Such differences could be explained by the chain transfer and the relatively low solubility of poly(acrylic acid) in ethanol. In addition, an experimental scheme using optical microscopy to observe the dyed and sliced polymers was optimized. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 1570–1577, 2007     

Correlation between surface energy and uptake behavior of radiation-grafted methacrylic acid-g-LDPE

An efficient and low-cost effluent adsorbent has been developed by grafting an ionizable monomer onto polyolefin surface and its efficacy was tested for dyes and metal ion uptake from aqueous medium. The grafted matrix was synthesized by optimizing various experimental parameters such as irradiation dose, dose rate, monomer concentration, inhibitor concentration, surfactant concentration, and backbone thickness. Grafting yield decreased with dose rate and thickness and increased with the concentration of methacrylic acid and inhibitor. Grafting kinetics studies indicated that grafting rate is comparatively much affected by dose rate that monomer concentration. Surface energy of the grafted surface was accessed from dynamic contact angle measurements. Uptake study of Basic Red 29, Methylene Blue showed high correlation with grafting yield and polar component of the surface energy; however, metal ion uptake was exceptionally high at ~25 grafting (%), highlighting anomalous behavior of MAA-g-LDPE with respect to surface energy and total ion uptake capacity.     

Graft polymerization of acrylic acid onto polyphenylene sulfide nonwoven initiated by low temperature plasma

Graft copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA) onto polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) nonwoven initiated by low temperature plasma was studied. The effects of various conditions on graft reaction and the grafting rate were investigated. SEM images showed that PPS nonwoven was grafted, and the graft copolymerization only occurred on the surface of PPS. It may be due to the chain transference going with the graft copolymerization. It was found that with the increasing of plasma power, treatment time, space between electrodes, monomer concentration, and temperature of graft polymerization, the grafting rate increased at first, went to the top, and then decreased. The PPS nonwoven surface graft reaction could be optimized by the following processing conditions: 120 s of plasma treatment time, 50 W of plasma power, 1.5 cm of space between electrodes, 30% (w/w) of monomer concentration, and 50°C of temperature of graft polymerization. Measurement of XPS showed that the peak of C1s of graft polyacrylic acid was existed, and the peak area increased with the increase of the grafting rate. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 5884–5889, 2006     

Melt grafting of a long-chain unsaturated carboxylic acid onto polypropylene

The melt grafting of a long-chain unsaturated carboxylic acid such as oleic acid (OA) and undecylenic acid (UA) onto polypropylene (PP) in a Haake Rheocord RC90 mixer was studied. The influence of initiator concentration, monomer concentration and reaction temperature on grafting was investigated. The experimental results show that a higher degree of grafting was obtained using mixed initiators (DCP/BPO=1:1). Increasing the monomer concentration leads to an initial rapid increase in the degree of grafting. The addition of styrene reduced the degradation of PP as well as the degree of grafting. The monomer chain length influenced grafting significantly, the degree of grafting decreasing with increasing chain length of the grafting monomer. The results of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated that the crystalline properties of PP grafted with OA and UA were different from those of PP grafted with acrylic acid (AA), which may be attributed to the nucleation effect of the grafted long chain of OA and UA.     

Graft polymerization of acrylic acid onto polyethylene film by preirradiation method. I. Effects of preirradiation dose,monomer concentration,reaction temperature,and film thickness

Low-and high-density polyethylenes were irradiated by electron beams with dose of 2–50 Mrad and then immersed in aqueous solution of acrylic acid (monomer concentration from 30 to 100 wt %) for 10 min?5 h at a temperature of 25–40°C. The degree of grafting increases with time and levels off. High density polyethylene shows lower grafting rate and higher final % grafting in compared with low-density polyethylene. Both grafting rate and final % grafting increase with total dose of preirradiation, but show some saturation at high doses. The highest grafting rate was observed at 60 wt % of monomer concentration where the grafted polyethylene swells to the largest extent in the monomer mixture. Apparent activation energies for the grafting are 19.6 and 27.3 kcal/mol for low- and high-density polyethylenes, respectively, reflecting the proces of monomer diffusion in the film. Grafting rate decreases with increasing film thickness. Graft polymerization starts on the surface of the film and proceeds to the inner part with monomer diffusion through the grafted layer.     

超临界CO2中PP与MAA的接枝反应

利用超临界CO2作为甲基丙烯酸（MAA）的溶剂和聚丙烯（PP）的溶胀剂，合成了MAA与PP的接枝聚合物（PP-g-MAA）。考察了单体浓度、引发剂用量、反应压力、反应时间等反应条件对接枝率的影响。结果表明：在合适的反应条件下，MAA的接枝率最高可达14．6％，而且接枝后PP颗粒的外观可以保持不变。用FT-IR、DSC以及SEM等方法对样品进行了表征。DSC曲线发现PP-g-MAA有两个熔融峰。SEM观察发现PP-g-MAA的表面比PP表面明显粗糙。     

Photoinitiated surface grafting of synthetic fibers,I. Photoinitiated surface grafting of ultra high strength polyethylene fibers

Photoinitiated surface grafting of acrylic monomers has been carried out onto high strength polyethylene (HSPE) yarn by means of a continuous process. The grafting reaction is initiated by UV irradiation of the yarn after presoaking in an acetone solution of initiator and monomer. Four initiators, benzophenone (BP), 4-chlorobenzophenone (4-CBP), 2-hydroxy-2-cyclohexylacetophenone (HHA), and 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone (DMPA), and two monomers, acrylic acid (AA) and acrylamide (AM), have been used. After short irradiation time (10 to 20 s) successful grafting is obtained, as shown by ESCA and IR-ATR spectra, dye adsorpotion from aqueous solution, and measurements of adhesion of single filaments to epoxy resin. Grafting efficiency of 74% has been reached for AA as monomer (26% is homopolymer). The tensile strength and modulus of the HSPE yarn are retained in the grafting process. The degree of surface grafting is mainly a function of structure and concentration of monomer and photoinitiator in the presoaking solution and of the irradiation conditions used. Increasing irradiation time gives increasing amounts of grafted polymer up to a certain limiting value. The reactivities of the four initiators have been compared showing the highest grafting yields of AA with BP and of AM with 4-CBP as photoinitiator. AA grafted HSPE yarn can be dyed to rather deep color by dipping in an aqueous solution of Crystal Violet. Increased dye absorption by a factor of up to seven has been measured for yarn grafted with AA to the maximum level obtained. The filaments of the grafted yarn show increased adhesion to epoxy resin by a factor of up to five compared with the ungrafted filaments.     

Supercritical carbon dioxide-assisted preparation of polypropylene grafted acrylic acid with high grafted content and small gel percent

This work was aimed at preparing polypropylene grafted acrylic acid (PP-g-AA) with high grafted content and small gel percent by using a supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂)-assisted solid-state free radical grafting process. The effects of various factors on both the grafted acrylic acid content and gel percent in PP-g-AA were investigated. Those factors included the reaction time, reaction temperature, CO₂ pressure, monomer and initiator concentrations. Results showed that self-polymerization of acrylic acid resulted in crosslinking of PP chains and production of gel in PP-g-AA. There exists an optimal reaction time to produce PP-g-AA with high grafted content and small gel percent at a certain temperature. Both the initial AA/PP mass ratio and CO₂ pressure constituted very sensitive process parameters that could control the gel percent and grafted content in PP-g-AA to a significant extent and with ease. The crystallization temperature, melting temperature and crystallinity increased with the increasing of the grafted content of PP-g-AA. Moreover, the PP-g-AA removal of gel has a higher thermal stability than the blank PP.     

Study on radiation grafting of acrylic acid onto fluorine-containing polymers. II. Properties of membrane obtained by preirradiation grafting onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene)

Some properties of the membranes obtained by the preirradiation grafting of acrylic acid onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) film have been studied. The dimensional change by grafting and swelling, water uptake, electric conductivity, and mechanical properties of the grafted PTFE films were measured and were found to increase as the grafting proceeds. These properties were found to be dependent mainly on the degree of grafting regardless of grafting conditions except higher monomer concentration (80 wt %). The electric conductivity and mechanical properties of the membranes at 80 wt % monomer concentration is lower than those at a lower monomer concentration. The results suggest that the membranes obtained at 80-wt % acrylic acid solution have a somewhat heterogeneous distribution of electrolyte groups as compared with those prepared at a monomer concentration less than 60 wt %. X-ray microscopy of the grafted films revealed that the grafting begins at the part close to the film surface and proceeds into the center with progressive diffusion of monomer to give finally the homogeneous distribution of electrolyte groups. The membranes show good electrochemical and mechanical properties which make them acceptable for the practical uses as cation exchange membrane.     

Radiation grafting of acrylic and methacrylic acid to cellulose fibers to impart high water sorbency

Acrylic and methacrylic acids have been directly grafted to rayon and cotton using the preirradiation technique with ⁶⁰ Co γ rays. The rate of grafting increased with increasing temperature and monomer concentration, as did the final degree of grafting. The amount and rate of grafting also increased with the total irradiation dose but tended to level off at higher doses, in agreement with the leveling off of the radical content reported previously. Methacrylic acid grafted more and faster than acrylic acid to both rayon and cotton. Methacrylic acid grafted more with rayon than cotton, but acrylic acid gave somewhat similar yields with both fibers. The water absorbency of the grafted fibers depended strongly on their posttreatment. Decrystallizing with 70% zinc chloride or with hot sodium hydroxide developed supersorbency. The two treatments in succession, respectively, gave the highest values. Methacrylic acid brought about less sorbency than the corresponding acrylic acid grafts. Useful levels of grafting and supersorbency could be readily and practically achieved by the methods described.     

Role of Hydrogen Peroxide in Selective OH Group Functionalization of Polypropylene Surfaces using Underwater Capillary Discharge

Plasma chemical methods are well suited for introducing functional groups to the surfaces of chemically inert polymers such as polyolefins. However, a broad variety of functional groups are often formed. Unfortunately, for further chemical processing such as grafting of molecules for advanced applications a highly dense monotype functionalized polyolefin surface is needed. Therefore, the main task was to develop a selective surface functionalization process, which formed preferably only a single type of functional groups at the surface in high concentration. Amongst the novel plasma methods, the underwater plasma process (UWP) is one of most attractive options to solve the problem of monotype functionalization. Such plasma is an efficient source of ions, electrons, UV-radiation, high-frequency shock waves, radicals such as hydroxyl radical, and reactive neutral molecules such as hydrogen peroxide. In contrast to established gas phase glow discharge processes, the water phase limits the particle and radiation energies and thus the energy input into the polymer. By virtue of the liquid water environment, which moderates highly energetic plasma species, extensive oxidation, degradation, cross-linking and radical formation on the polymer are more limited as compared to gas plasma exposure. The variety of plasma produced species in the water phase is also much smaller because of the limited reaction possibilities of the plasma with water. The possibility to admix a broad variety of chemical additives makes underwater plasma even more attractive. Hydrogen peroxide and the catalyst (Fe-ZSM5) should influence and increase the equilibrium concentration of OH radicals in the underwater plasma process. It was found that these radicals played a very important role in OH functionalization of polyolefin surfaces. Hydrogen peroxide was identified to be the most prominent precursor for OH group formation in the UWP. The catalyst would affect the steady state of OH radical formation and its reaction with the substrate surface and thus accelerates the functionalization process.     

Photografting of acrylic acid on high density polyethylene powder in vapour phase

A photografting technique was explored as a means of functionalizing high density polyethylene (HDPE) powder. The graft copolymerization reaction of acrylic acid on HDPE powder and the surface structure of grafted HDPE powder were studied in terms of grafting degree and grafting efficiency, and by FTIR and ESCA. The results show that the surface of chemically inert HDPE powder pretreated by an acetone solution of benzophenone (BP) can be graft‐copolymerized with acrylic acid by photografting in the vapour phase. Thereby, the grafting degree is increased but the grafting efficiency is decreased with increasing reaction time. When the BP concentration in pretreatment solution is increased, the grafting degree is increased to a maximum, and is then reduced. The most suitable reaction temperature is 90 °C. Grafting degree can reach the quite high value of 10.6 wt% under the conditions of BP concentration 1.0 wt%, reaction time 1 h and temperature 90 °C. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

Plasma‐induced graft polymerization of acrylic acid onto poly(ethylene terephthalate) films

The graft polymerization of acrylic acid was carried out onto poly(ethylene terephthalate) films that had been pretreated with argon plasma and subsequently exposed to oxygen to create peroxides. The influence of synthesis conditions, such as plasma treatment time, plasma power, monomer concentration, temperature, and the presence of Mohr's salt, on the degree of grafting was investigated. The observed initial increase in grafting with monomer concentration accelerated at about 20% monomer. The grafting reached a maximum at 40% monomer and subsequently decreased with further increases in monomer concentration. The reaction temperature had a pronounced effect on the degree of grafting. The initial rate of grafting increased with increasing temperature, but the degree of grafting showed a maximum at 50°C. The activation energy of the grafting obtained from an Arrhenius plot was 29.1 kJ/mol. The addition of Mohr's salt to the reaction medium not only led to a homopolymer‐free grafting reaction but also diminished the degree of grafting. The degree of grafting increased with increasing plasma power and plasma treatment time. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 81: 2993–3001, 2001     

The study on radiation grafting of acrylic acid onto fluorine-containing polymers. IV. Properties of membrane obtained by preirradiation grafting onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene–hexafluoropropylene)

Some properties of the membranes obtained by preirradiation grafting of acrylic acid onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene–hexafluoropropylene) (FEP) film have been investigated. Swelling behavior, dimensional change by grafting, electric conductivity, and mechanical properties of the grafted films were found to depend largely on the degree of grafting and to increase as the grafting proceeds. These properties were also found to be independent of the preparation conditions such as irradiation dose, grafting temperature, film thickness, and monomer concentration lower than 60 wt %. The electric conductivity of the membranes prepared at lower monomer concentration (lower than 60 wt %) is higher than that prepared at 80 wt % acrylic acid concentration. X-ray microscopy of the grafted film revealed that the grafting proceeds from both surfaces of the film to the direction of center to give finally homogeneous grafting through the whole bulk of film. At lower monomer concentration the homogeneous grafting was achieved at a degree of grafting around 18%, while at 80 wt % acrylic acid it was achieved at a degree of grafting higher than 70%. The homogeneously grafted membranes show good electrochemical and mechanical properties which make them acceptable for practical uses as cation-exchange membranes.     

Radiation grafting of acrylic and methacrylic acids onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene-vinylidene fluoride) TFB films

A study has been made for the preparation of membranes by the direct radiation grafting of acrylic and methacrylic acids onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene-vinylidene fluoride) TFB films. The appropriate reaction conditions were selected under which the graft polymerization was carried out successfully. In this grafting system, ammonium ferrous sulfate (Mohr's salt), ferric chloride, and cuppric chloride were used as inhibitors to minimize the homopolymerization of acrylic acid and methacrylic acid. Also, the effect of monomer concentration on the rate of grafting was investigated. The dependence of the grafting rate on monomer concentration was found to be of the order of 1.1 and 1.0 for acrylic acid and methacrylic acid, respectively. This grafting system was proceeded by a front mechanism. Some selected properties of the grafted films such as swelling behavior, dimensional change, and mechanical and electrical properties were investigated. It was found that the grafted membranes possess good hydrophilic properties that may make them promising in some practical applications. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.