Modification of polypropylene fiber by radiation-induced graft copolymerization of acrylonitrile monomer

Abstract

Modification of polypropylene fiber was carried out by graft copolymerization of acrylonitrile monomer using the preirradiation method. The influence of synthesis conditions (preirradiation dose, monomer concentration, temperature, draw ratio, and storage) on the degree of grafting was investigated. For all preirradiation doses, the degree of grafting was found to increase with the reaction time. The higher the preirradiation dose, the higher the degree of grafting was. The dilution of monomer with DMF showed peak maxima for the degree of grafting at 80% monomer concentration. Both the initial rate of grafting and the final degree of grafting were found to increase with an increase in the reaction temperature. An activation energy of 31.2 kJ/mol was found for the grafting reaction. The degree of grafting in the drawn fiber showed different behavior as compared to the undrawn fiber. The storage of the irradiated fiber at −4°C prior to the grafting showed a decrease in the degree of grafting initially for a period of 8 days, beyond which the degree of grafting remained constant. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 69: 1343–1348, 1998