GRAFTING OF THE ACRYLIC-ACID ON POLY(ETHYLENE-TEREPHTHALATE)

A study has been made of the effect of solvent nature, concentrations of monomer, initiator and homopolymerization inhibitors, and initial polymer structure on the modification of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films and fibers by grafting the acrylic acid (AA). AA grafting initiated by radicals formed from thermal decomposition of benzoyl peroxide. It has been established that preswelling of PET in dichloroethane leads to changes in its sorption–diffusion properties and favors an increase in the degree of grafting. Addition of the Fe(II), Ni(II), and Cu(II) salts to AA solution decreased homopolymer yield. The studied process of grafting can be described by equations of diffusion kinetics. Distribution of the poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) over the cross section of samples and a number of physical and chemical properties depend also on conditions of performing the graft polymerization. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.