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Pre‐Irradiation Grafting of Styrene/Divinylbenzene onto Poly(tetrafluoroethylene‐ co ‐hexafluoropropylene) from Non‐Solvents
Author(s) -
Rager Timo
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
helvetica chimica acta
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.74
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1522-2675
pISSN - 0018-019X
DOI - 10.1002/hlca.200390155
Subject(s) - hexafluoropropylene , tetrafluoroethylene , divinylbenzene , styrene , grafting , chemistry , polymer chemistry , monomer , solvent , polystyrene , toluene , copolymer , polymerization , irradiation , radical initiator , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , polymer , physics , nuclear physics , engineering
Pre‐irradiation grafting of styrene/divinylbenzene (DVB) onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene‐ co ‐hexafluoropropylene) (FEP) films was studied with respect to the influence of solvent. Particularly favorable grafting conditions with long radical lifetimes and reasonably high polymerization rates were achieved with solvents that are precipitants for the newly formed polystyrene, e.g. , low‐molecular‐mass alcohols like i PrOH, AcOH, their mixtures with H 2 O, and H 2 O/surfactant systems. Using one of these solvents significantly extended the range of accessible graft levels, and a specific degree of grafting was obtained at a much lower monomer concentration and irradiation dose than with grafting in a good solvent such as toluene. As practical consequences, the monomer was used more efficiently, and the radiation damage of the perfluorinated base material was reduced with the result of improved mechanical properties of the grafted films.