Kinetics and characterization of radiation-induced grafting of styrene on fluoropolymers

Grafting of styrene solution onto poly(ethylene-co-tetrafluoroethylene) (ETFE) was carried out by the pre-irradiation method. ETFE films were irradiated by 1.5 MeV electron beams in air. The influence of grafting temperature (50 to 80 degrees C) has been investigated. It was found that the saturation grafting yield and the initial rate follow an Arrhenius law. The volume grafting yields were measured by FTIR spectroscopy in transmission and by weighing and the 'surface' grafting yields by FTIR-ATR. The results showed that grafting reaction is not monomer diffusion controlled in 30 mu m film, nevertheless heterogeneities are revealed. By in-situ ESR, the decay of peroxy radicals was recorded under various heating and grafting conditions. These experiments suggest that the peroxy radicals react rapidly with monomer, but do not initiate the grafting process. The propagating radicals were not detectable, which may indicate that polystyrene chains are very long. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.