Introducing reactive groups into polymer chains by radiation induced grafting technique

Abstract

An oil soluble monomer, glycidyl methacrylate, which contains an epoxy group, was grafted onto poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) powder via pre-irradiation induced graft polymerisation in water under shear dispersion without additives. The existence of graft chains was proven by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and the epoxy groups in graft chains are ready for further chemical modification. Graft polymerisation kinetic was studied, and the results showed high monomer conversion, which exceeded 70%. Microfiltration membranes were cast from grafted PVDF powder via phase inversion method, and the morphology of those microfiltration membranes was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The images of the membrane cast from grafted powder revealed similar asymmetric morphology to the membrane cast from pristine PVDF powder.