Radiation Induced Grafting of Acrylic Acid on to Polyaniline Nanofiber

Abstract

This study aims to explore modification of polyaniline nanofiber through grafting polymerization to increase its solubility and processability for application in aqueous environment. Grafting via electron beam radiation procedure is extremely productive in terms of time consumption and environmental friendliness. In this work, acrylic acid was grafted on to polyaniline nanofiber using electron beam irradiation. The influence of altering the electron beam power from 2-3 MeV, radiation dosage from 5-25 kGy, acrylic acid concentration from 10-100% and soaking time from 2-24 hours during graft polymerization were studied over the grafting percentage (%G). Grafting parameter was determined by weight changes before and after grafting procedure. Grafted polyaniline is characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Formation of new peak at 1700 cm-1 for FTIR spectroscopy analysis of grafted polyaniline confirmed grafting has taken place during irradiation.