REACTOR OF VAPOR-PHASE GRAFT-POLYMERIZATION OF REACTIVE MONOMER ONTO POROUS HOLLOW-FIBER

A novel reactor for the modification of a porous hollow-fiber membrane up to I m in length is presented. The polyethylene hollow fiber irrad iated with an electron beam was exposed to the vapor of an epoxy-group -containing vinyl monomer (glycidyl methacrylate) in a cylindrical rea ctor rotated at I Ipm. Construction of the hollow fibers resulted in a diffusion-controlled reaction system, which led to the nonuniformity of degree of grafting (dg), whereas the shuffling of the hollow fibers by rotating the cylindrical reactor provided a higher reactivity (dg = 110% for 100 min at 300 K) and uniformity (standard deviation = 4.5% ) of dg.