Grafting: a versatile means to modify polymers - Techniques, factors and applications

The modification of polymers has received much attention recently. Among the methods of modification of polymers, grafting is one of the promising methods. In principle, graft co-polymerization is an attractive method to impart a variety of functional groups to a polymer. Graft co-polymerization initiated by chemical treatment, photo-irradiation, high-energy radiation technique, etc. is documented in this review. Several prime controlling factors on grafting are discussed. In the past several years, there has been increased emphasis on applications of grafted polymers. The modified polymers through grafting have a bright future and their development is practically boundless. In this review, we have tried to cover two important applications employing grafting technique, viz. membrane separation science and conducting polymers. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.