The photolysis of polymethylvinylketone - II. The preparation of graft polymers

Abstract

In the photodegradation of polymethylvinylketone, free radicals are formed by the usual type I reaction of ketone photolysis. When this polymer is degraded with light of 313 mμ in a solution of a vinyl monomer which does not absorb at this wavelength, these free radicals initiate further polymerization. Studies have been made of this reaction using acrylonitrile, methyl methacrylate and vinyl acetate, and evidence is presented that graft polymers are formed in which long chains of poly-methylvinylketone are attached chemically to extended sequences of monomer units of a different chemical structure. It has been shown that this reaction can be extended to copolymers containing relatively few ketone groups, thereby making it possible to synthesize graft polymers with a wide range of chemical compositions.