Characterization and some properties of irradiated and grafted nylon 6 films

The grafting of hydrophilic monomers such as acrylic acid (AAc), acrylamide (AAm), and its mixture onto hydrophobic polymer such as Nylon 6 (Ny 6) fil ms results in graft copolymers exhibiting hydrophilic properties as well as good swelling behavior. It was found that the variation of the experimenta l parameters of the grafting process has no effect on the hydrophilic prope rties of the film. The water uptake appears to reflect predominantly the pe rcentage of PAAm and or PAAc in the membranes. The alkali-treated films pos sess higher hydrophilic properties than the alkali untreated ones. Also, it was found that the moisture regain of the grafted Ny 6 has a higher value than the irradiated ones. The thermal and mechanical properties of the graf ted films were also investigated. The prepared membranes of Nylon 6 grafted with acrylic acid, acrylamide, and their comonomers can be successfully us ed as cation-exchange membranes, which are suitable for different practical applications, especially for the separation of some selected heavy metals and radioactive waste in wastewater.