Radiation graft-copolymerization kinetics of poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibres

A theoretical analysis of radiation grafting kinetics has been made in terms of the quantitative interrelationship between the degree of grafting (G_f), the grafting periods (t) grafting temperature (T) and the monomer content in the polymeric system (M). Poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibres and a number of hydrophilic monomers have been employed for these experiments. The grafting reactions were initiated by trapped radicals produced by irradiation of the polymeric system under vacuum at room temperature. Experimental results showed that the monomer content in the fibres obeyed the Arrhenius relationship. The overall activation energy of the grafting reaction has been calculated. Grafting reactions can proceed only if ΔE_t > ΔE_p + ΔE_M. This termination activation energy ΔE_t is a function of the state of polymeric system.