GRAFTING OF A THIN-LAYER OF POLY(ORGANOPHOSPHAZENE) CONTAINING SUCCINIC ANHYDRIDE GROUPS ONTO POLY(VINYL ALCOHOL) AND POLY(ETHYLENE-CO-VINYL ALCOHOL)

A poly(organophosphazene) functionalized with succinic anhydride group s was bonded to the surfaces of poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(ethylene- co-vinyl alcohol) films. The starting materials and the resultant surf aces were studied by XPS and ATR-i.r. spectroscopies and contact angle measurements. The comparison of XPS results obtained for the two graf ted surfaces gave a clear indication of the protonation of the nitroge n atoms in the phosphazene backbone by the hydroxyl groups of the subs trates. The extent of this protonation is greater in the case of the h ydroxylated copolymer. The variations of the calculated atomic ratio a nd the deposited layer thickness versus polyphosphazene concentration demonstrated that the grafting yield is higher in the case of poly(vin yl alcohol). The poly(vinyl alcohol) modified surfaces showed a marked decrease in hydrophilic character. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.