ELECTRON-BEAM INITIATED GRAFTING OF METHYL-METHACRYLATE ONTO POLYETHYLENE - STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES

Polyethylene (PE, 100 parts by weight) was mixed with methyl methacryl ate (MMA, up to 5 parts by weight) at 120-degrees-C and subsequently e xposed to electron radiation of different doses (up to 20 Mrad) to pre pare PE/MMA graft copolymers. Successful grafting was verified by IR s pectroscopy. Gel formation indicated crosslinking. Grafting increased with increasing MMA concentration and increasing irradiation dose. Cry stalline melting temperature and percent crystallinity were lower than those of untreated PE. Tensile strength, elongation at break and diel ectric constant of grafted samples were measured and discussed.