Surface functionalization of poly(tetrafluoroethylene) films via consecutive graft copolymerization with glycidyl methacrylate and aniline

Chemical modification of argon-plasma-pretreated poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) film by W-induced surface graft copolymerization with glycidyl metha crylate (GMA), followed by epoxide-ring-opening reaction with aniline (An), and finally oxidative graft polymerization with aniline had been carried o ut to render the PTFE surface conductive. The surface composition and micro structure of the graft-copolymerized PTFE films were studied by X-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively . The graft concentration of the GMA polymer and An polymer increased with increasing concentration of the respective monomer used for graft polymeriz ation. Ethanol, when used as a solvent, catalyzed the coupling reaction of epoxide with An and should be of more than 40 vol % in concentration to ach ieve the optimum effect. The physicochemical characteristics of the polyani line (PANI) chains grafted onto PTFE film surface were grossly similar to t hose of the PANI homopolymer. The surface resistance of the aniline graft-p olymerized PTFE film was reduced to the order of about 10(4) Omega/square, in comparison to the value of 10(16) Omega/square for the pristine PTFE fil m.