Studies on selected polymeric materials using the photoacoustic spectroscopic technique

Abstract

Polymethylmethacrylate—graft—polybisphenol—A-carbonate (PMMA-G-PC) with 50% grafting is synthesized. The graft co-polymerization of methylmethacrylate (0.036 mol · lit−1) onto polybisphenol—A-carbonate (0.5 g) in the presence of a redox couple formed from potassium persulphate (40 mol · lit−1) and thio-urea (30 mmol · lit−1) in aqueous nitric acid (0.18 M, 100 ml) in air at (45±2) °C for 3.0 h. Condensation of (PMMA-G-PC) with N- [p-(carboxyl phenyl amino acetic acid)] hydrazide (PCPH) affords polybisphenol-A-carbonate-graft-polymethylmethacrylate hydrazide (PCGH). The photoacoustic (PA) spectra of (PCGH) are recorded in a wavelength range from 200 nm to 800 nm at a modulation frequency of 22 Hz, and compared with those of pure polybisphenol-A-carbonate (PC), (PMMA-G-PC) and (PCPH). In the present work, a non-destructive and non-contact analytical method, namely the photoacoustic technique, is successfully implemented for optical and thermal characterization of selected polymeric materials. The indigenous PA spectrometer used in the present study consists of a 300-W xenon arc lamp, a lock-in amplifier, a chopper, a (1/8)-m monochromator controlled by computer and a home-made PA cell.