Radiochemical Graft Copolymerization and Characterization of Acrylate Monomers on to Polyethylene Film

Abstract

Functionalization of polyethylene (PE) film by radiation-induced graft copolymerization of ethyl acrylate (EA) and ethyl methacrylate (EMA) has been carried out using a preirradiation technique to develop materials with different degrees of grafting for use in ion separation processes. The influence of reaction conditions such as preirradiation dose, monomer concentration, reaction time and amount of solvent on percentage of grafting (Pg) has been studied and maximum Pg values of EA (144.97%) and EMA (142.35%) were respectively obtained at [EA] = 0.92 mol/L, [EMA] = 0.80 mol/L, total dose = 14.4 kGy and 17.28 kGy at 100 °C in 120 and 180 min. The effect of different monohydric alcohols of varying chain lengths on Pg has also been studied. The modified films have been characterized by FTIR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. Some selective properties of pristine and grafted PE film such as swelling and ion uptake studies have also been investigated. The grafted films showed better swelling and ion uptake capacity in comparison to the pristine film.