I. Kaur et al., Functionalization of poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-ethylene) film by radiation-induced craft copolymerization, J APPL POLY, 78(6), 2000, pp. 1171-1178
To introduce functional moieties to Tefzel film, a copolymer of tetrafluoro
ethylene and ethylene, graft copolymerization of vinyl monomers such as acr
ylonitrile (AN) and methacrylonitrile (MAN) was attempted by a preirradiati
on method in aqueous medium. Optimum conditions for obtaining the maximum p
ercentage of grafting have been evaluated for both monomers. Maximum grafti
ng of AN (52.2%) and MAN (77.7%) is obtained at a total dose of 3.14 and 2.
69 x 10(4) Gy, respectively, using [AN] = 3.018 mol/L and [MAN] = 1.177 mol
/L in 10 mL of water. The effect of aliphatic alcohols of varying chain len
gth, such as methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, n-butanol, and cyclohexanol, o
n percentage add-on of AN and MAN has also been studied. It has been found
that all the alcohols decreased the percentage of grafting. Characterizatio
n of Tefzel and grafted Tefzel films has been carried out by IR spectroscop
y and thermogravimetric analysis. Grafted Tefzel film has been found to hav
e improved thermal resistance. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.