Photografting of methacrylic acid on low-density polyethylene film in presence of polyfunctional monomers

Abstract

Photografting (λ > 300 nm) of methacrylic acid (MAA) on low-density polyethylene (PE) film (thickness = 30 and 60 μm), on which xanthone photoinitiator was coated earlier, was investigated at 60°C in the presence of polyfunctional monomers such as N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBAAm) and trimethylol propane triacrylate (TMPTA). Addition of the polyfunctional monomers (0.01 and 0.1 wt %) to the grafting system largely accelerated the photografting, and the magnitude of the enhancement was larger for TMPTA than MBAAm. MBAAm component was incorporated into PE substrate and/or MAA-grafted chains through the grafting reaction. Double bonds of the introduced polyfunctional component seemed to act as a new site for the grafting initiation, leading to the promoted grafting. The polyfunctional monomer did not affect distribution of the grafted chains in the cross section of the resultant MAA-grafted film, which was measured by electron probe microanalysis. Wettability of the MAA-grafted PE film was not influenced by the addition of MBAAm, but water absorbency was reduced by using a higher concentration of MBAAm. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 63: 1635–1641, 1997