Preparation and characterization of supported hydrogels obtained by radiation grafting of binary monomers

The preparation and characterization of supported hydrogels obtained by rad iation-induced graft copolymerization of styrene/maleic anhydride (Sty/MAn) binary monomers system onto low density polyethylene films were investigat ed. Attention was focused on the selection of the reaction parameters suita ble for the commercial production of such hydrogels. The factors which affe ct the preparation process and grafting yield are type of solvent, dose rat e, total dose, comonomer composition and their concentrations in the diluen ts. The structure and composition of the grafted chains were also determine d. The change in tensile strength and percent elongation at break with degr ee of grafting was determined for the: untreated LDPE-g-P(Sty/MAn) membrane s. It was found that the tensile strength improved by grafting but the perc ent elongation decreased. The change in thermal parameters was measured usi ng differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The grafted P(Sty/MAn) chains a re amorphous in nature and a slight effect on the crystallinity of PE struc ture was observed. The possibility of the practical uses of such modified m embranes was suggested. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.