Abstract
Reactions of semicrystalline poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) film with ester-selective reagents at the film−solution interface can be controlled to produce modified film samples containing a thin (less than ∼ 40 A) surface layer of the reagent-induced functionality. Hydrolysis of PET yields a surface mixture of alcohol and carboxylic acid groups. Reduction with lithium aluminum hydride and transesterification with ethylene glycol (glycolysis) both produce surfaces with alcohol functionality (PET−OHR and PET−OHG, respectively). Each of these modification reactions involves chain cleavage and can lead to significant sample degradation (reactive dissolution); for each modification reaction, conditions were optimized to maximize conversion and minimize degradation. The reactivity of surface alcohols (PET−OH) was assessed for samples prepared by both reduction and glycolysis, and a comparative analysis was made: the presence of benzylic alcohols in reduced samples and their absence in glycolyzed samples as...
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